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> Distinguished Alum, Global Citizen > Strumming Up New Business > Soul of a Lion
Accolades For Alumni & Friends of CHAS
cab
cash
CHASS alum
masters the art
of asking trivia
questions
Accolades 2011 Edition
CHASS Board of Advisors
Emily Barbour, President
Barry Beith
Erica Boisvert
Steve Bullard
Lee Garrett
Ken Gray
Jim Johnson
David Jolley
Maria Kingery
Jennifer Martineau
Harold Pettigrew
Carol Rahmani
Brooks Raiford
Brad Remmey
Kathy Council (NC State Fdn. Board liaison)
Accolades is published by the NC State
University College of Humanities and
Social Sciences.
Jeffery P. Braden
Dean
Lauren Kirkpatrick, editor
Director of Communication
Contributing Writers
Elizabeth Ayscue
D’Lyn Ford
Christa Gala
Lauren Kirkpatrick
Lauren Lopez-Ibenez
Carrie McGaha
Matt Shipman
Lindsay Williams
NC State Communication Services
Design and Photography
On the cover: CHASS alum Greg Volk (Multi-disciplinary
Studies ’03) writes the questions for
the hit TV show, Cash Cab. And he’s won two
Emmys in the process. Ride the Cash Cab with
Greg on p.6.
NC State University is dedicated to equality of opportunity.
The University does not condone discrimination against students,
employees, or applicants in any form. NC State commits itself to
positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color,
creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability. In addition,
NC State welcomes all persons without regard to sexual orientation.
31,540 copies of this public document were printed at a cost of
46.2¢ per copy. 11-CHASS-2056
Work is getting worse
Is work less fun than it used to be? Signs point to yes. A new study
shows that modern business practices for professional employees
are raising stress levels, increasing our distrust of our bosses, and
making us all less inclined to help our co-workers out.
CHASS sociologist Martha Crowley worked with other research-ers
from Florida State University and The Ohio State University to
examine 80 years worth of workplace and employee data. They
found that many measures businesses have put in place to boost
productivity are also making workers more miserable. The prac-tices
range from layoffs and outsourcing jobs to putting people
onto teams that only work together on short-term projects.
Employers may be hurting themselves as well. A drop in employee
loyalty can make it harder to retain talented staff. Plus people are
less likely to put forth their best effort for a company they distrust.
For that matter, co-workers are less likely to help each other out
when they are primarily concerned with saving their own jobs —
and that hurts both workplace efficiency and the quality of the
work itself.
Send word!
We’d love to hear from you. Tell us about
your new job, your adventures, your life.
Visit us at chass.ncsu.edu
and take a look around.
Click on “alumni” to find
your class notes.
Accolades > 1
Doc continues to
be our hero
Doc Hendley (Communication ’04) earned national expo-sure
when he was named a CNN Top Ten Hero in 2009.
Since that brush with fame, Hendley has quietly and fer-vently
continued his mission to give what he says everybody
deserves: clean drinking water. “I’m just a regular guy,” he
said. “But a few years back when I was doing some reading,
I was completely horrified to learn that 1.1 billion people
don’t have access to clean water. I had to do something.”
Hendley started a nonprofit to provide clean water to
needy people around the world. In some areas, like Sudan,
Ethiopia, and India, he and his group help the locals build
wells. In Haiti, they’re helping residents build a sustainable
ceramic filter factory. Keep up with Doc at winetowater.org.
Tea Time: Several hundred students from India,
Turkey, China, the Arabian Peninsula, East Asia,
and other areas near and far bridged cultures over
tea in Caldwell Lounge during International Week.
NC State students from around the world prepared
and served tea and cookies in ways traditional to
their home country for the event, hosted by CHASS
and the Office of International Affairs.
A number of CHASS international studies students
also participated. International Studies is one
of the fastest-growing majors on campus. “Our
interdisciplinary model at NC State is one of the
program’s most appealing features,” said Helga
Braunbeck, director of CHASS Interdisciplinary
Studies Programs. “Students can investigate
international issues from a variety of angles —
historical, political, anthropological, or
environmental. They can also build their foreign
language skills and learn about foreign cultures
by studying their literary and cultural artifacts.
This generation likes to travel and explore other
cultures, so they welcome the built-in study abroad
requirement to experience first hand other ways of
life and perspectives on the world.”
Like us!
Follow CHASS at
facebook.com/NCStateCHASS
2 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
From Hillsborough Street to Hollywood, actor
Zach Galifianakis has captivated audiences
with his quirky comedic performances. In
a recent interview with www.ncsu.edu,
Galifianakis reflected on his time as a
Communication major. He shared memories
of time spent on Hillsborough Street, class with
his favorite professor — two-time Department
of Communication Outstanding Teacher Jim
Alchediak — and meeting his close friend and
collaborator A.D. Miles. Galifianakis left North
Carolina to pursue his dreams in New York City,
where he morphed from stand-up comedian
to box office sensation. While The Hangover
star enjoys a wildly successful career, he
still makes it a point to visit Raleigh each
year and walk across the campus where it all
began. Check out the article at go.ncsu.edu/
galifianakis .
It gets better
A documentary by Will Lamb (Comm ’11), featuring members
of the Wolfpack family rallying together in support of NC State’s
GLBT students, faculty, staff, and alumni, has drawn interna-tional
attention while helping to shed light on change and accep-tance
blossoming across campus. As of this writing, viewers have
watched the YouTube version of the video more than 11,000
times. See it for yourself: ncsu.edu/youtube/itgetsbetter.
Standing up to bullies
More than 300 social workers, educators, and others concerned
about bullying gathered for a symposium organized by the De-partment
of Social Work this spring. “We are determined to find
ways to protect young people against bullying,” said Tina Han-cock,
Social Work department head. “We’re looking at ways to
prevent bullying in the first place, how to intervene when it oc-curs
in schools, online, and elsewhere in our communities, and
how to enact anti-bullying legislation.” The department was
joined by the NC State GLBT Center in hosting the event, which
was co-sponsored by the Counseling Center and the Counselor
Education Program.
Accolades > 3
CHASS alums write the book
on Wolfpack hoops
Tim Peeler (English ‘87) and Roger Winstead (Communication
‘87) vividly illustrate the many traditions and innovations that
have shaped Wolfpack basketball as well as the history and cus-toms
of college basketball itself in their new book NC State Bas-ketball:
100 Years of Innovation (UNC Press, 2010). The writer
(Tim) and photographer (Roger) launched their careers and their
friendship working on Technician and the Agromeck back in the
day. Tim is now managing editor of GoPack.com, NC State’s
official athletics department website. Roger is a university pho-tographer.
Read their story at chassnews.blogspot.com.
We rate
NC State is sharing the rankings spotlight with schools like
Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Cornell, and Duke for its cam-pus
writing and speaking program. US News and World Report
has once again ranked the CHASS program among the nation’s
best colleges and universities with writing-across-the-curriculum
programs.
How to wreck a nice
beach … or, how to
recognize speech
Music historian Dave Tompkins (Poli Sci ’92) is author
of How to Wreck a Nice Beach, a history of the vocoder.
The L.A. Times calls the work — whose title derives from
the mis-hearing of the vocoderized phrase “how to recog-nize
speech” — “one of the best music books ever written.”
What’s a vocoder? A synthesizer that makes human voices
sound robotic. Vocoders were used in World War II as cryp-tography
devices. More recently, musicians ranging from
Peter Frampton to rapper T-Pain have used them to modify
their voices. Go to chassnews.blogspot.com to hear NPR
interview Tompkins about the vocoder, read excerpts from
an L.A. Times interview, and watch a vocoderized music
video: the 1983 hit “Pack Jam” that was the theme song
for the 1983 national championship Wolfpack men’s basket-ball
team. A version of this article originally appeared in the
NC State Alumni Association’s Red and White for Life blog.
Make a splash
Cullen Jones (English, ‘06) nearly drowned at a water park
when he was five. Fast forward 20 years: in 2008, Jones
brought home an Olympic gold medal and world record in
swimming — a first for an African-American. Today, Jones
is making waves through a national anti-drowning initia-tive.
Nearly 70 percent of African-American children and
58 percent of Hispanic children have little to no swimming
ability, compared to 40 percent of white children. Through
Make a Splash, Jones (pictured below) is encouraging chil-dren
across the country to learn to swim.
Author Tim Peeler and photographer
Roger Winstead
4 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
CHASS Dean Jeff
Braden believes the
humanities and social
sciences are not
merely relevant, they
are essential for our
individual, economic,
and collective survival.
Dear Friends,
STEM: It’s on everybody’s lips. Whether it’s President
Obama giving his State of the Union address, or Chancel-lor
Woodson, underscoring NC State’s historic identity and
strengths, everybody is talking about the importance of
STEM—Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathemat-ics—
for the nation, the world, and here in North Carolina.
So … is the College of Humanities and Social Sciences still
relevant, especially on a STEM-intensive campus? If you
have heard me speak since I became dean in 2009, or re-ceived
my email communications, you may have heard my
views on this. My answer is no—we are not relevant. We are
essential. Here’s why.
First, the disciplines in our college are relevant for any citizen
of the 21st century. Whether we study engineering, econom-ics,
environmental sciences, or entomology, being able to
speak clearly and write well, understand our place in history
and the world, know the narratives of our own people and
the language and narratives of others, appreciate our cul-ture
and those of others, and grasp the principles that shape
the actions of individuals and groups—all of these make us
more effective in our particular disciplines and endeavors.
Second, there is more to our college than simply helping
others do what they do better. As I think of the challenges
of the 21st century—health and well-being, climate change,
the clash of cultures and religions, sustainability—I do not
believe such problems will be solved exclusively (or even
primarily) through scientific discovery and technical inno-vation.
Rather, solutions to those challenges will require un-derstanding
and changing two things: the way people think,
and the way people act. That’s precisely what we do in our
college. Through the humanities, we explore and expand
people’s understandings of themselves and their relationship
to their physical, cultural, spiritual, and social worlds. The
social sciences help us explore and expand our understand-ing
of how we act within those contexts.
Therefore, we are not merely relevant to solving the grand
challenges of our world—scholarship and research in the
humanities and social sciences are essential to meeting those
challenges, and to sustaining life and civilization on the ra-zor-
thin biosphere of this planet we call home.
We all benefit from STEM, and want to ensure our cam-pus
and our country lead the world in scientific and techni-cal
innovation. But we must not overlook the importance
of speaking and writing; understanding the languages, cul-tures,
histories, and narratives of all peoples; the role of eth-ics
and religion; and the value of understanding and influ-encing
individual and social actions.
You know how important the humanities and social sciences
are to your life—so I ask you to share your perspective with
your neighbors, legislators, friends, and co-workers. In a
world that New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman
says is increasingly hot, flat, and crowded, the humanities
and social sciences are not merely relevant—they are essen-tial
for our individual, economic, and collective survival.
Help me share that message.
Sincerely,
Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Accolades > 5
Table of
contents
ALUMNI IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Riding the Cash Cab . 6
Destination in the Journey . 11
Distinguished Alumna, Global Citizen. . 14
Why I Give . 16
Paying it Forward . 17
STAND-OUT STUDENTS
Putting Education into Practice . 8
Charismatic Kornelius. . 10
Psych Major Strums Up a New Business . 12
Found in Translation . 22
FASCINATING FACULTY
Soul of a Lion . 19
Sharing the Sacred . 20
Sex? Not My Kid . 20
The More We Talk . 21
Hate Taking Surveys?. . 21
Students Dig Archeology. . 23
What We’re Reading . 24
Dean Jeff Braden wants to stay in touch with the student experi-ence.
So in addition to holding brown bag lunches with CHASS
students throughout the year, he instituted the annual Dean for
a Day contest. The college’s student ambassadors choose the
lucky student from among essays that contestants submit for
the honor. Then Braden takes the student’s schedule, and the
student takes his. For one day, they switch places.
Last year, Margaux Novak (English ’11) was dean for a day.
She gave Braden a detailed itinerary that included not only her
classes — water aerobics among them — but also stops for coffee
with friends, study in the library, and a walk past an inspiration-al
quote that appears on Yarborough Court (behind Holladay
and Watauga Halls). The quote read, ‘The greatest mistake you
can make in life is continually fearing that you’ll make one’ (El-bert
Hubbard). “That was when I realized this student had more
insight into this exercise than do I,” Braden recalled. “Margaux
realized there are risks any time you break with tradition. I take
heart that, although I make more than my share of mistakes,
at least I’m not afraid to try. And perhaps more importantly,
neither is Margaux.”
This year’s dean for a day was Sarah Hager (Comm ’12). After
attending all her classes, Braden took her radio shift at WKNC.
He had a blast. Meanwhile, Hager had back-to-back meetings
with other deans, faculty members, administrators, and donors.
When she met Braden at the end of the day to debrief, she says
they were both exhausted. “We simultaneously said, ‘I don’t
know how you do it!’” she said. “I think in the end that’s what
an opportunity like this comes down to — an appreciation for
both sides.”
Walking the
WALK
6 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
The camera zooms in on a busy New York City street. You see
someone — a harried tourist, a weary office worker, a group of
friends — flag down a cab and climb in. “Where are you going?”
the driver asks.
The passenger replies. Suddenly, lights within the cab start to flash
wildly, music starts playing, and general pandemonium ensues.
“You’re in the Cash Cab,” the driver says. “It’s a game show
that takes place right here in this taxi. Are you in?”
So begins each episode of the Discovery Channel’s hit tele-vision
game show, where unsuspecting passengers become
contestants who get peppered with questions ranging from
history to current events. Right answers earn them cash;
wrong answers get them dumped back onto the streets of
New York.
But who comes up with all those questions? CHASS alum
Greg Volk (Multidisciplinary Studies ’03) has not only made
a career as a question writer, he’s also won Emmys in the last
two seasons for his question-writing prowess on Cash Cab.
Education of a question writer
Volk came to NC State from Gastonia, NC, to become an engi-neer.
“I felt strongly about State. It’s a great school,” Volk said.
“Plus my brother graduated from State.”
But the more Volk dabbled in communication classes, and
the more he wrote for Technician, the stronger his passion
for writing and media became. He eventually melded his in-terests
in mass communication, journalism, and art media
into a major in Multidisciplinary Studies (now Interdisci-plinary
Studies).
When he was on the Technician staff, Volk wrote an editorial
about the value of an education steeped in the liberal arts.
“There’s a very real value to getting a humanities education
alongside so many technical and engineering students,” he
said. “In a way, CHASS helps NC State work as a whole.
Engineering students and the like benefit from being exposed
to the perspectives of CHASS students, and vice versa. They
need each other to make a complete education possible and
to make NC State work.”
Riding the
CASH CAB
Accolades > 7
Volk’s humanities classes stirred his interests in related fields.
He took a screenwriting class with English Professor Wil-ton
Barnhardt. “I’m not a screenwriter, but he inspired me,”
Volk said. “He told us to go for what we wanted. He had
an interesting career, and that was energizing for someone
trying to get their foot in the door.” Volk also values learn-ing
the fundamentals of media creation and journalism from
professors like Jim Alchediak (Communication) and Bob
Kochersberger (English).
Late show internship and a taste
of the Big Apple
Two semesters before Volk graduated, he moved to New
York City for a semester-long internship with The Late Show
with David Letterman. Working on the show opened Volk’s
eyes to the possibilities of television writing. “I had decided
that I really wanted to be a writer,” Volk said. “That intern-ship
allowed me to see how a TV show comes together.”
During his Late Show internship, Volk developed a love not
only for writing, but also for New York City. After he gradu-ated
from NC State in 2003, he made the permanent move to
the city that never sleeps. He started out writing monologue
jokes for Letterman on a freelance basis.
Volk spent four years writing jokes from his cramped apart-ment
before landing a job with VH1, where he wrote for sev-eral
shows, including Best Week Ever. But eventually, pop
culture writing began to lose its luster for Volk. It was time
for a change. One of his writer friends at Best Week Ever
had written for Cash Cab and encouraged Volk to give it a
try. “Going from writing jokes about celebrities to writing
trivia questions is not necessarily a linear path, but it was a
great switch for me,” Volk said.
Stump the contestant
For the past four seasons of Cash Cab, Volk has drawn on
much of the information he learned in college to formulate
questions and stump game show participants. “CHASS gave
me the knowledge base to build on, and it created in me a
curiosity to learn,” Volk said. “It’s important for my job that
I remain curious.”
Any event, person, or place can be shaped into a question
for Cash Cab, so Volk keeps a notebook by his side at all
times. “Even checking my e-mail gets me wondering,” Volk
said. “How long is the average e-mail? What percentage of
people has never sent an e-mail? Who is considered to have
sent the first e-mail? This is my life.”
Writing questions isn’t easy. Cash Cab trivia questions often
mesh humor with fact to create a fun, unique game show
viewers will stick with. Volk spends hours reading newspa-pers
and scouring the internet before he fashions seemingly
random topics into questions for the game show. Among the
myriad questions he’s written, one of Volk’s favorites is this:
Q: In its Polish translation, what classic novel’s title literally
means “Romper in the Grain”?
A: Catcher in the Rye.
Adding to the question-writer’s challenge, Volk has to fig-ure
out if the question he’s working on—or something simi-lar—
has already been written. More often than not, it has.
For instance, he remembers stumbling across the fact that
Michigan boasts the most lighthouses in the country; be-cause
of Lake Michigan, it has the most miles of shoreline.
“Sure enough, that question had already been written,” he
sighed. “So it was back to the drawing board.”
Writer’s block is not an option, since he is responsible for cre-ating
20 questions per day that will test contestants’ knowl-edge
and sometimes even make them chuckle. “It’s both the
most rewarding and most challenging thing I’ve ever done
in my life,” he says. “There are only so many ways to write
about Howard Taft being fat. You have to dig and dig and
dig, and that’s what makes it difficult.”
And although his questions often stump contestants, Volk
enjoys watching players get it right and win.
As for earning Emmy awards in 2009 and 2010 for his writ-ing,
Volk was caught completely unprepared. “It was really
surreal,” he said. “I never imagined myself winning an Emmy.
It was a dream I never realized I had until it came true.”
In addition to writing for Cash Cab, Volk is exploring his
newfound interest in history as a writer for cable’s top-rated
unscripted show, the History Channel’s Pawn Stars. Like
many reality shows, Pawn Stars features unique characters
and eyebrow-raising antics, but Volk brings the show full
circle with information pop-ups that describe the pawned
items’ rich and complex history.
Advice for aspiring TV writers
For students looking to move to New York or Los Angeles
to write television dramas or movie scripts, Volk has this
advice: write every chance you get. “Start doing what you
want to get paid for now, and write like you’re going to get
paid for it,” Volk said. “You’re going to be judged on your
work, and it’s going to be critiqued. Sometimes you will fail
and get rejected, but you have to put yourself out there and
continuously improve yourself.”
And if your travels take you to New York, stay sharp. You
never know if the next taxi you get in will be the Cash Cab,
fueled by a CHASS alum’s questions.
by Carrie McGaha, student intern
8 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
Running for public office is not for
the faint of heart of any age.
But what if you’re 21 years old, and a full-time, double-major,
Dean’s-list student? Meet NC State junior and newly
elected Wake County Soil and Water Conservation District
Supervisor Jenna Wadsworth.
Not only did Wadsworth—a Political Science/Women’s
and Gender Studies double major—run for public office
this past fall, she was the top vote-getter in a three-way
race for the Wake County Soil and Water Conservation
Board. Wadsworth was selected on 41.19% (112,231) of
all ballots cast.
Wadsworth is the youngest elected official currently serving
in North Carolina and — as far as she’s been able to deter-mine
— she’s the youngest woman ever elected in North Caro-lina.
In the months since the election, Wadsworth has been
juggling a full course load with her official responsibilities.
“I am so proud to serve the good folks of Wake County,”
she said. “I want to do my part to clean up Falls Lake and
Wake County’s other water sources, and to support ways to
conserve these natural resources.”
Although she’s three times younger than some of her fellow
board members, Wadsworth is holding her own as a soil
and water conservation supervisor. She is both idealistic
and practical about what she has gotten into.
“Being in college and being a public servant — neither is an
easy task,” she said. “But I’m used to a rigorous academic
environment, and I have been active in politics since before
I could vote. You make time for what’s important to you.”
Putting Education
into Practice
Accolades > 9
Wadsworth said the state’s budget crisis is providing even
more challenges. “It’s hard for anyone to do what we had
hoped to do,” she said. “With cuts to many of the state’s
agricultural programs, and to the soil and water conserva-tion
districts, we all have to find innovative ways to get the
job done.”
One example of Wadsworth’s innovative spirit: She’s devel-oping
an internship program to engage university students
with interests in water and soil conservation in the conser-vation
board’s work. “I see it as a great chance for students
to get hands-on experience while helping the board work
more efficiently. It’s what we do at NC State.”
Wadsworth is focusing her board efforts largely on preserv-ing
family farms, like the one she grew up on. She wants to
see locally-grown products infused into the local economy
as a way of sustaining jobs within the county. She’s also
intent on raising public awareness of the board���s role as a
resource to both public and private landowners.
As a student at NC State, Wadsworth has been active with
various environmental groups and has participated in
grassroots efforts to lobby for bills addressing local envi-ronmental
issues. “Young people have a lot to offer,” she
said. “We have different ways of thinking, we bring a dif-ferent
perspective, we are passionate and have a lot of en-ergy
to affect change.”
Wadsworth credits CHASS with helping to prepare her to
take on the rigor of campaigning and the challenges of serv-ing
the public. “I value learning so highly,” she said. “In
CHASS, we are encouraged to learn and to explore diverse
viewpoints, not just to absorb material. My professors have
been great about helping me relate what I’m studying to
real-world contexts.”
Wadsworth created an independent study in women and
gender studies last year through which she organized her
nonpartisan campaign. “So few women run for public of-fice,”
she said. ��It wasn’t just my age that could have caused
some to dismiss my candidacy.
“[NC State professor of philosophy] Chris Pierce was so
helpful and encouraging. All my professors have been,
throughout this process.”
In addition, CHASS has helped sharpen her communica-tion
skills. “It’s essential for those in public office to be ef-fective
communicators, writers, and speakers,” Wadsworth
said. “You need to be able to relate to people to understand
their needs. CHASS is great for helping people communi-cate.”
When we last spoke to Wadsworth, she was preparing for
several area meetings with fellow supervisors from Wake
to Nash County to discuss how to help farmers meet
newly-strengthened requirements to reduce nitrogen and
phosphorus levels in the watershed. She was dreaming up
a lawn care clinic for homeowners’ associations. She was
also reading five novels, preparing for three mid-term ex-ams,
and writing two papers.
Just another day in the life of a locally responsive, globally
engaged NC State student.
“I want to do my part
to clean up Falls Lake
and Wake County’s
other water sources,
and to support ways
to conserve these
natural resources.”
10 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
Perhaps it was the echo of his laughter off the walls of the Caldwell
Lounge, but when undergrad Kornelius Bascombe arrived for our
interview, people noticed.
Known as “Korn” among friends and family, Bascombe’s enthu-siasm
and charisma guided him through the loss of his family’s
home to a fire in 2006, scored him an all-expenses-paid week in
Hollywood, and are paving the way for a promising future.
Bascombe is in high spirits throughout our discussion of his
recent venture into the world of reality-TV. Last spring, pro-ducer
Mark Burnett teamed with the Oprah Winfrey Network
(OWN) to launch a national video campaign, asking, “What
would you do with your own show?” Bascombe used his audi-tion
tape to articulate the three-fold principle on which his reality
series — geared toward keeping middle and high school youth out
of trouble — would operate: Embrace, Enhance, and Empower.
America, whether charmed by his smile or inspired by his mes-sage,
responded with an astonishing wave of support; more than
80,000 profile views and 5.9 million votes later, Bascombe found
himself on a red-eye flight to Los Angeles as one of the 35 “Your
OWN Show” finalists preparing for an intensive week of filming
and interviews. But despite his status as an early fan favorite, Bas-combe
got a plane ticket home instead of a new contract.
Maintaining his signature positive attitude and humility, Bascombe
explained his elimination from the competition. “I was the youngest
finalist of the entire group — the producers were looking for some-one
with more life experience who could really cater to Oprah’s
audience. But, it’s been a blessing … a complete dream come true!”
Bascombe hopes to pursue his true passion: communication. With
the two online domain names he’s secured for himself, Bascombe
is ready to create a media outlet focused on inspiring youth: some-thing
“fun and comedic, but real.”
While Bascombe has been a source of strength and guidance for
his friends and community, he insists he could not have made it
without help. Arguably the most influential figure in his life is NC
State alum Haze Lancaster (Bus. Mgt., ’94). “I’ve known him
since I was eight,” Bascombe said. “He encouraged me to come
to State. He’s helped me all the way. I have so much gratitude and
admiration for him.”
by Lindsay Williams, student intern
Charismatic
Kornelius
Accolades > 11
Road trip!
For many of us, the phrase conjures a party on wheels. For
Amber Smith (Multidisciplinary Studies ‘09), it meant a nearly
three-month odyssey across America with a spirit of volunteer-ism
as her co-pilot.
Smith took a semester off from her undergraduate studies in the
fall of 2004 to travel from Raleigh to Seattle and back again. At
every stop, she volunteered. Sometimes she engaged in simple
acts of kindness such as holding “smile” signs in busy market-places.
In Lincoln, Nebraska, she started a litter pick-up along
the highway, encouraging others to pull over and help. And
in Boise, Idaho, she served lunch at a homeless shelter with a
chapter from Kiwanis International.
“I wanted to be inspired,” Smith said. “I wanted to see the
good things individuals and nonprofits were doing around the
country, and to meet others who wanted to make a difference
but maybe weren’t sure how.”
Back in Raleigh, energized by all that she had seen and experi-enced,
Smith began a different journey: She created a nonprofit
organization to promote volunteerism in Wake County. Six
years later, ME3— or Motivate, Educate, Empower, and En-gage
— connects volunteers with organizations that need their
willing hands, their expertise, their passion and involvement.
“We have a registry of more than 400 volunteers who we have
connected to 75 nonprofits,” she said proudly. And those num-bers
continue to grow. “People want to help. They want to be
involved. We’re just helping them find their way.”
ME3 has put two Wake County high schools on the map for
volunteerism. At East Wake and Broughton high schools, Smith
has helped create an elective for students who want to volunteer
and to design ideas to solve community issues. “It’s exciting to
work with these students,” Smith said. “They understand that
you have to create a culture of volunteerism. They’re working
hard to integrate volunteering into their lives, and to encourage
their classmates to do the same.”
In addition to serving as president of ME3, Smith is pursuing her
second CHASS degree, a Master’s of Public Administration. “I
studied nonprofits as a minor when I was an undergrad,” she
said. “I could connect what I was learning in the classroom
with what I was trying to do in the world. It was helpful to
learn the language of nonprofits, and the theories behind what
makes a nonprofit succeed, and to put those theories into prac-tice
at the same time.” In her MPA program, Smith said she’s
continuing to learn “all the intricate details of nonprofits.”
When she graduates this fall with her MPA, Smith is unsure
where the winding road will take her. She is sure she will re-main
connected to NC State and to the community around it.
And she knows, wherever she goes, she will continue to sow the
seeds of volunteerism.
by Lauren Lopez-Ibanez, student intern
Alum finds destination
in the journey
Citizen Smith
The Independent Weekly has awarded Amber Smith its
Citizens’ Award, given since 1983 “to honor people and
groups who work tirelessly to make the Triangle — and
beyond — more than just a community.” Smith was among
four awardees for 2010. “I had no idea I would be recog-nized,”
Smith said. “I was extremely flattered. There’s so
much that needs changing. Sometimes you wonder if you
will ever accomplish anything. Being recognized made me
feel like maybe I am making a difference, no matter how
small.”
12 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
Italo Leiva was struggling to learn sheet music for guitars when
suddenly a light bulb went off. A light with seven colors. And
made of string.
Leiva color-coded his guitar strings to improve his skills. He says
it’s all about synesthesia — a condition he studied in cognitive
psychology that affects many musicians and mathematicians.
“Psychologists have found that when you use color distinction in
learning, you can produce deeper memory integration,” he said.
“I thought if I used colors on the guitar strings, it might be easier
and quicker to learn how to read sheet music.”
It worked! The psych major not only gained new musical mas-tery,
but also launched Leiva Strings, a business that won its
founder an NC State competition for entrepreneurs, propelled
him into a global business start-up competition, and landed him
a spot in an intensive three-month business accelerator program
in Boston, complete with office space, legal support, mentoring,
and targeted introductions to customers and funding sources.
The long and winding road to Boston started at NC State when
Leiva and his friend and fellow student Ahmad Abdel-Ghani
(an Agricultural Business Management major) entered their
business idea in the university’s eGames competition. “The
competition cultivates and encourages the spirit of entrepre-neurship
across all colleges and disciplines at NC State,” said
Psych Major
Strums
Up A New
Business
Accolades > 13
Autumn Mauney, associate director of external relations for
the Entrepreneurship Initiative. “Competitors develop an un-derstanding
of what it really takes to develop an idea and turn
it into a business.”
Leiva Strings won the $3,000 Apollo Award for best business
plan and an additional $500 for tying for the most points in
the competition. “People come up with great ideas every day,
but you have to be prepared and able to execute the idea to be
successful,” Mauney said. “What really struck me about Italo
was his passion and dedication for his product.”
With encouragement from Mauney and others in the Entre-preneurship
Initiative, Leiva submitted his invention and busi-ness
plan to MassChallenge, a global start-up competition
and accelerator designed to “help entrepreneurs transform
great ideas into great companies.” This year, the competition
attracted 446 applications from 26 countries.
Leiva Strings was one of 111 start-ups invited to partici-pate
in the competition and accelerator program. Although
Leiva Strings did not win the MassChallenge, Leiva says he
wouldn’t trade the three-month experience for anything. “It
was exhausting and exhilarating,” said Leiva, who took a hia-tus
from school during the competition. “In three months, I
did what most businesses would do in three years. It was a
real crash course in building a business, getting investments,
and networking. We were judged on just how much we could
get accomplished during a very short time.”
Leiva got advice and services from CEOs of Fortune 500 com-panies,
business moguls worth millions of dollars, and sea-soned
lawyers. He built a business team — comprised largely
of NC State alumni and students — that helped him investigate
business sales, potential clients, and ways to gain publicity.
He prizes the network he developed with fellow competi-tors.
“We were on a hall with entrepreneurs from around the
world,” Leiva said. “We developed connections to help our
businesses grow. We all had broad perspectives and bounced
ideas off each other.”
What’s next for Leiva Strings? For now, Leiva is working on
branding his business. He’s also negotiating with overseas
manufacturers to develop prototypes for various types of gui-tars,
since they vary by brand. He’s building the company’s
website to include a video lesson section where instructors
will teach guitar, bass, upright bass, and violin. For Italo Lei-va,
it all sounds like sweet music.
by Carrie McGaha, student intern
“ I thought if I used
colors on the
guitar strings,
it might be easier
and quicker to
learn how to read
sheet music.”
How does it work?
Leiva Strings are designed with a different
color for each of the seven natural notes
in music theory: A,B,C,D,E,F, and G. Users
associate each note with the correlating
color while they learn to read sheet
music. Music instruction books are being
developed that will match colored sheet
music to the colored notes on the strings.
14 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
It was a night course about the
Soviet Union that convinced Susan
Carter to apply to NC State and
major in political science.
Just back from the Coast Guard Academy, she was trying to
figure out her future. She decided it would begin at NC State.
“It was the best decision I ever made,” said Carter, who gradu-ated
in 1981 and was recently recognized as the 2010 CHASS
Distinguished Alumna.
After graduating from NC State, Carter went on to earn her
master’s degree in Middle East Studies, International Econom-ics
and Arabic from The John Hopkins School of Advanced
International Studies. Following graduation, she worked as a
journalist in the Persian Gulf and in 1990 joined ExxonMobil,
where she now serves as the senior director of federal relations.
“I’ve always been interested in U.S. foreign policy,” said
Carter. “We lived in Australia when I was six and sev-en.
My parents had friends from other countries that
Global
Citizen
Since she was a
young girl, Susan
Carter thought
globally. Today,
she’s trying to
ensure other
students do too.
Distinguished
Alum,
Accolades > 15
they met through the U.S. military. When I was eight years
old, my father went to Vietnam. I was always conscious that
U.S. foreign policy and events that happened outside the United
States had a profound impact at home.”
Today she’s supporting CHASS students learning the very same
thing — both by serving on the college’s School of Public and
International Affairs (SPIA) advisory board and through the
creation of the Susan Carter Scholarship. Her donations are
tripled by ExxonMobil.
“One of State’s great strengths is that it attracts students from
around the world,” said Carter. “My interest in the Middle
East began with the many prominent Palestinian students I met
here. They showed me the other side of the Arab-Israeli conflict
and awakened an interest in the region that ultimately led to
my Fulbright in Syria, my three years in Bahrain, and to being
hired by ExxonMobil.”
Currently, Carter manages contacts and advocacy with the
executive branch regarding energy and business issues, as well
as guiding ExxonMobil on Canadian relations. But one of her
favorite responsibilities has been to advocate for human rights
and health in other countries.
“I helped manage our worldwide strategic community invest-ment
programs. We created an initiative to build leadership
skills and economic opportunity for women in developing
countries,” Carter explained. “Why would we invest in women
in developing countries? Because investment in women yields
incredible dividends for entire communities and countries. We
live and work in these countries and their economic and social
progress affect us too. ExxonMobil has touched and changed
a lot of women’s lives through this initiative, and the program
continues to grow and flourish.”
At NC State’s distinguished alumni awards dinner in January,
Carter reflected on how she became a global citizen. “I had
many inspirational professors and advisors, but none more so
than Joe Mastro.” Mastro was the instructor of that evening
course about the Soviet Union — the one that convinced Carter
that NC State was where she needed to be.
Carter also credits her parents: Bob and Katie Carter. “They
have enthusiastically supported me at every step through my
life. But just as important, they participated in my experiences
here at NC State. As a result, my parents and I have been able
to grow together throughout our lives.”
Carter hopes the scholarship in her name and the guidance she
gives to SPIA and the Women’s Foreign Policy Group will give
current students encouragement and support similar to what
she received during her days at State.
“I had a lot of mentors and supporters along the way who
helped me in many different ways,” Carter said. “I in turn want
to help the next generation.”
by Christa Gala
We asked; she answered
Q. You’ve worked in parts of the world most
Americans only read about. What’s the biggest
misconception we have about the Middle East?
A. That every country is the same and every person
thinks the same way. It is a diverse region; its people
hold all types of views.
Q. You were a journalist in the Persian Gulf before you
joined ExxonMobil’s public affairs department. What
was that like?
A. It was a grand adventure. I lived in Bahrain, a very
comfortable, open country to live in at the time. I
had the great fortune to travel to several countries
in my work—Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab
Emirates, Yemen—and to spend a week aboard U.S.
naval vessels that were escorting oil tankers in and
out of the Arabian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war. My
time in the Gulf and my year in Syria just prior to that
were incredible growth periods. Living in another
culture really stretches you, spiritually, mentally,
and professionally.
Q. You’ve been with ExxonMobil in some capacity
since 1990. How has the industry changed in
20 years?
A. Technology developments have enabled us to find
and produce oil and gas economically and with a
smaller environmental footprint in new frontiers. In
far east Russia, ExxonMobil just drilled the world’s
longest extended-reach well. The well pad is on land;
we drill down and out 7.67 miles underneath the
seafloor to the oil field. That lets us produce oil and
gas in an environmentally responsible way, without
interacting with the marine environment in one of
the most challenging sub-arctic environments in the
world. It’s pretty amazing technology, and it’s one of
many examples.
Q. Can you tell us something most people won’t know
about how we get our oil?
A. One fun fact: Most people in the U.S. think that
most of their imported oil comes from the Middle East.
Actually, it comes from Canada.
16 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
Laura Lunsford (BS ’88, PhD ’07, Psy)
is assistant professor of Psychology
at University of Arizona South. She
is the former director of NC State’s
Park Scholarships program. Luns-ford
has created an endowment to
support graduate students in the
Department of Psychology. Lauren
Kirkpatrick, CHASS director of com-munication,
recently spoke with her
about why she gives.
You came to NC State as an engineering major. What changed?
I loved math. I majored in Electrical Engineering my first two
years. But one day in the lab it dawned on me that I was more
interested in solving problems with people than with things. I
took some human resource development classes in Psychology
and loved them. Jim Kalat, Lynne Baker-Ward, Don Mershon,
Craig Brookins were all terrific.
You returned to campus ten years later to become the first
full-time director of the Park scholarships program. In ad-dition
to building it into one of the nation’s premier merit
scholarship programs, you decided to earn your doctorate in
Psychology. Why?
I was asking a lot of questions about the value of mentor-ing
and about the value of programs that support talented
students. The faculty I kept seeking out told me I was asking
doctoral student-type questions. With Denis Gray’s help and
support, I decided I could do my job and pursue my doctorate.
What is your area of scholarship?
I study mentoring, talent development, and emerging leader-ship
for adolescents and young adults. I am also interested in
LAURA LUNSFORD: Why I Give
Laura Lunsford, PhD, returns
to campus to visit with
her mentor, Denis Gray.
Accolades > 17
Christina LaCanfora was so grateful for the scholarship
support she received from the Department of Communication
that she’s replenished the fund twice.
“It feels fantastic to know that you are making it a little easier
for a student to finish a degree by reducing the stress of
money,” said LaCanfora, 25, a 2007 graduate with a double
major in communication and sociology.
LaCanfora was awarded the $1,000 Nancy and Melinda Snow
Scholarship during the 2006-2007 school year. For the past
two years, LaCanfora has donated to the scholarship, with her
employer, ExxonMobil, matching her donation three to one.
“I just felt that I was so fortunate to have gotten a good job,”
said LaCanfora, an upstream communications advisor for the
company in Houston, TX. “I remember how much it meant for
me to get financial support when I was in school. I want to
help other people.
“Receiving a merit-based scholarship is a great feeling.
It acknowledges and rewards all the effort you’ve
spent studying, writing papers, and being involved with
extracurricular activities. It is amazing that someone who has
never met you is so impressed by your dedication to your
studies and contributions to your school that they are willing to
provide you with financial assistance to help achieve your goal.”
The Nancy and Melinda Snow Scholarship was a surprise
to Nancy Hill Snow, a popular communication professor at
NC State from 1966 – 2006. It is also named in memory
of Melinda Snow — the daughter of Nancy and A.C.
Snow — who died in an automobile accident in 1996.
“When I was getting ready to retire, my students had this brilliant
idea that they would start a scholarship, but of course they didn’t
have any money,” said Nancy Snow, whose husband, A.C. is a
well-known columnist for the Raleigh News & Observer. “So
they called my husband, and he worked it out that they could get
a scholarship started. I did not know anything about it until the
day of my retirement; that’s when it was announced.”
Snow is thrilled with LaCanfora’s donation — and ExxonMobil’s
match. “I hope the fact that Christina has done this is going
to make other people want to do it,” Snow said. “I’ve always
thought that instead of paying someone back you should just pay
it forward to benefit another person.”
by Christa Gala
educational access and equity for under-served popula-tions.
I am involved in a University of Arizona mentoring
program now, looking at how the relationship benefits
not only the students but also the faculty.
You dedicated your dissertation about mentoring to Dr.
Denis Gray, and created a graduate student endowment
in his honor. Why?
Denis was my mentor in every sense of the word: He would
tell me when I needed to buck up. He helped me think
through my practicum experience. He always encouraged
me to be a faculty person. He saw me in ways I did not see
myself.
Why do you choose to give back to CHASS?
When I was in the PhD program, I received a graduate
scholarship from the Psychology Department. It was
not huge, but it increased my ability to participate fully. I
was so grateful for that support. Attending conferences is
important, but it’s hard when you’re a student and your
budget is tight. I wanted to give back to other graduate
students because of Denis Gray.
PAYING IT FORWARD
Christina LaCanfora(‘07) met with
her benefactor Nancy Snow at the
CHASS scholarship luncheon.
18 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
I have the best job in CHASS — raising private dollars to enhance the student experi-ence
and ensure our research is ever more valuable to North Carolina and beyond.
Don’t laugh! I spend my days connecting our alumni and friends to the College’s vi-brant
community of students and faculty. What could be more rewarding than that?
What amazing alumni I meet every day. Brad Crone (Political Science ’85) runs his
own PR firm serving corporate and political clients. Maria Kingery (English ’99) co-founded
a sustainable energy company. John Dail (History ’73) founded a business
that helps companies meet their employee benefit challenges.
Recently, John had the opportunity to visit Dr. Thomas Parker’s archeology lab on
campus where they discussed ancient Israel, one of John’s passions. Other friends of
CHASS have let me know how much they’ve enjoyed reading about English Profes-sor
Robin Dodsworth’s research about Southern dialects in the press and how much
they have appreciated hearing Professor Akram Khater’s perspectives on public radio
regarding the political unrest in Egypt, Yemen, and Tunisia.
And then there are the students. Wow! Timur Ender (Criminology ’11) is biking
across the country to raise awareness about affordable housing. Park Scholar Vin-nie
Feucht (English ‘11) won the highly competitive Innovation Institute Scholarship
from ThinkImpact for his work on sustainability. Casey Huntington (Political Sci-ence/
Psychology/Philosophy ’11) is a pre-law triple major who left New Orleans as a
refugee from Hurricane Katrina. Casey is also the recipient of two merit scholarships.
Whether you’re interested in technology and the elderly or passionate about poetry, I would love to reconnect you with the Col-lege.
You will find, no doubt, that the campus is alive with intellectual energy and the joy of inquiry. I invite you to invest in our
future and thank you for your support.
From the Development Office
Marcy Engler
You can change the future. And while you’re at it, leave a legacy.
How? Create an endowment in CHASS.
An endowment is created when a permanent fund is
established, invested, and managed. We use a portion of the
annual income the fund generates to carry out the donor’s
designated purpose. If the fund earns more income than the
amount we spend, we add that extra income back into the
endowment so that it continues to grow and maintain its
purchasing power for future generations.
Endowments help us recruit outstanding students and support
internships and study abroad opportunities for them. Graduate
students benefit from endowments that support their research.
The college can attract outstanding faculty with endowed
chairs, and can support the scholarship of our current faculty
stars by providing teaching and research support.
An endowment creates financial stability, allowing us
to become less dependent on unpredictable sources of
revenue, such as research sponsorship, or state and national
government aid.
Endowments can be funded using cash, securities, or land.
Some donors fund endowments as a single gift or as part of a
will bequest. Others spread the payments over several years
in the form of a pledge. Endowed funds can become family
traditions, with succeeding generations adding gifts to the
principal established by a founding donor.
For more information on how you can
leave a legacy, contact Marcy Engler
at marcy_engler@ncsu.edu or 919.515.5984.
Leave a Legacy
Accolades > 19
Associate Professor of English Barbara Bennett never imagined
that she’d fall asleep to the sound of roaring lions. Or that she���d
master the art of diapering a baby baboon. Or land a book deal
with National Geographic. But a stint volunteering at a wildlife
refuge in Namibia proved a turning point that set the literature
professor on a path of personal and professional discovery.
From TV to reality
An animal lover since childhood, Bennett grew up watching
Wild Kingdom, The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau,
and National Geographic specials on TV. She’s the kind of
woman who talks to squirrels, names the deer in her backyard,
and brings doggie treats to a friend’s dinner party instead of a
bottle of wine.
When she had a chance to take a sabbatical three years ago,
Bennett opted to volunteer at the Harnas Wildlife Refuge.
While cleaning enclosures, tending injured animals, and walk-ing
young lions, Bennett became close to founder Marieta van
der Marwe, who shares an extraordinary connection with
animals. Starting with a single vervet monkey, van der Marwe
now provides a home for 400 injured and orphaned animals.
Bennett wanted to share van der Marwe’s story and help sup-port
her work. Past encounters with publicity seekers had made
the founder wary, but Bennett’s enthusiasm won her over. Now
the only problem was convincing a publisher.
Book deal
The answer came during Bennett’s next visit to Harnas, when
one of the guests, a writer for The Guardian, provided an
introduction to her agent, who agreed to represent Bennett.
“I learned more about writing than at any other time in my
life,” Bennett says. “It was a new kind of writing. I had to
learn to ask the right questions to elicit stories and select the
best ones from a wealth of material.”
She was elated when her agent called to break the news: Na-tional
Geographic wanted to publish her book, The Soul of
a Lion.
In and out of Africa
Bennett headed back to Namibia for her fifth trip recently, this
time to promote the book with tour operators, businesses, and
booksellers. With half the proceeds going back to Harnas, it’s
another way to support the sanctuary.
And she made sure to schedule some quality time with her fa-vorite
wildlife species. “I’ve found that nothing comes closer to
meditation for me than sitting silently with a cheetah.”
by D’Lyn Ford
SOUL OF A Lion photo provided by Barbara Bennett
20 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
Here’s just a sampling of the
research and scholarship coming
out of the College of Humanities
and Social Sciences.
Sharing the sacred
Relations between people of different religions in India have
often been strained at best, and at worst, have erupted in vio-lence.
In her recent book, Sharing the Sacred, (Oxford Uni-versity
Press 2010), Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Anna Bigelow explores a Punjab town where the conditions
for religious conflict are present, but where residents live
largely without conflict. In Malkerkotla — a predominantly
Muslim area — Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs have managed to
live together in peace, with minimal intervention from outsid-ers.
And it���s been that way since it was founded by a Sufi saint
in the 15th century. How has this community created and sus-tained
its culture of tolerance and mutual respect? Bigelow’s
research uncovers a story of peace in a region of conflict, and
serves as a counterbalance to the many portrayals of Islamic
cultures as militant and intolerant.
Sex? Not my kid!
Seems that most parents of teenagers believe that: a) their teen
does not (repeat, not) want to have sex; and, b) every other teen
definitely wants to have sex. The parents of teenage girls and
boys alike fear that their children will be taken advantage of
by other teens. But they are not, apparently, comfortable with
the idea that their child may be actively trying to have sex with
someone else. Sociologist Sinikka Elliott’s research indicates
that even as they imagine adolescents in general as highly sexual
and even sexually predatory, parents do not think of their own
teenagers as sexually desiring subjects. “This sort of binary
thinking — constructing their teen children as asexual but other
teens as hypersexual — represents more than simply an effort
to maintain a notion of their teens as sexually innocent,” Elliott
said. “It reveals deep anxieties about their teenagers’ future life
chances and underscores the prominent role sexuality plays
in reproducing social inequality.” Elliott explores this cultural
landscape in her forthcoming book, Not My Kid: Parents and
Teen Sexuality (NYU Press). Her findings on the subject have
appeared on MSNBC, ABC News, and other media outlets.
research sampler
photo provided by Anna Bigelow
Accolades > 21
The more we talk, the less we see
eye to eye
“We can work it out,” the Beatles song goes. Maybe not,
according to research by the Department of Communica-tion’s
Andy Binder. Discussing the risks and benefits associ-ated
with emerging science and technology can actually hurt
efforts to build consensus on those issues. “The more people
discuss the pros and cons associated with scientific endeav-ors,
the more entrenched they become in their point of view
— and the less likely they are to see the merit of other view-points,”
Binder said. “This suggests that individuals are very
selective in choosing their discussion partners and hearing
only what they want to hear during discussions of contro-versial
issues.”
Binder’s research highlights the difficulty facing state and
federal policy leaders when it comes to high-profile science
and technology issues such as stem cell research or global
warming. “Government agencies view research on these
issues as vital and necessary for the country’s future, but
building public consensus for that research is becoming
increasingly difficult.” The research was part of a project
funded by the National Science Foundation aimed at under-standing
public opinion and policy dynamics surrounding
site selections for federal research facilities such as the Na-tional
Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility. “This work will likely
inform how federal agencies engage the public in regard to
large-scale research initiatives,” Binder said. His paper ap-pears
in Risk Analysis.
Laughing in court
Serving on a jury during a capital murder trial is no laughing
matter. So why might we hear giggles and guffaws coming
out of the jury room? Professor of Communication Joann
Keyton has been on the case.
Keyton and Dr. Stephenson Beck from North Dakota State
studied an Ohio trial involving two murder charges and
multiple drug counts. They found that laughter played a se-rious
role in how jurors developed relationships and found
support for their points of view. “Laughter is natural, but we
try to suppress it in formal settings,” Keyton said. “So when
it happens, it’s worth closer examination.”
Keyton and Beck examined how laughter helped the jurors
bond and develop the power structure of the group, and
how it helped them release tension. “When juries form, the
members don’t know each other,” Keyton said. “Part of the
jury process is to create relationships within the group — for
example, figuring out who thinks like me, who will have the
same position I have. There are power dynamics at play.”
As an example, during deliberations, jurors became confused
about whether a sentence for one of the charges was for 30
days or 30 years, leading to laughter. “Laughter allowed the
jurors to acknowledge they had made an error — so they
could move forward with that error corrected,” Keyton said.
The researchers’ findings are included in a special issue of
Small Group Dynamics. US News & World Report picked
up this story.
Hate taking surveys?
Would you rather scrub the floor with a toothbrush than
take a survey? Your repugnance might be in your genes.
Associate Professor of Psychology Lori Foster Thompson has
been investigating why some of us are so strongly disinclined
to reply to surveys. Thompson and her colleagues sent
surveys to more than 1,000 sets of twins — some of whom
were fraternal, some identical. They examined whether the
behavior of one twin predicted the other’s behavior. Between
identical twins, it did. With fraternal twins, however, one’s
behavior did not accurately predict the other’s behavior. By
studying twins, the researchers were able to account for age
and upbringing (since all the twin sets in the study were
raised in the same home). The only variable was genetic:
identical twins share identical DNA, fraternal twins do not.
If you’re one of the survey-averse among us, next time you’re
asked to take one, you can simply respond by checking (d)
Sorry, it’s just not in my genes. The research was published
in the Journal of Organizational Behavior.
22 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
Evan Garris was overcome with emotion as he watched the
television reports of the jubilant crowds celebrating Hosni
Mubarak’s resignation in Cairo’s Tahrir Square earlier this
spring. The Smithfield, NC, native and political science major
had spent last summer travelling in the Middle East, dividing
his time between Egypt, the UAE, and Lebanon, as he studied
with Jodi Khater (Foreign Languages and Literatures) and her
husband Dr. Akram Khater (History).
“During my study abroad, I experienced a critical awakening, or
nahda, as it is called in Arabic,” Garris recalled. “I wanted to
know if comparing lofty ideals like human rights and normative
behaviors like gender and sexuality could even occur between
cultures; if interpretation of these concepts is not impeded
altogether by language or the lack thereof.”
While he was full of questions, Garris was also focused on
learning the language. “It was my most pressing need,” he said.
“It determined my ability to move about freely, establish personal
connections with people, and even eat. Even after three years of
study, the Arabic language poses a unique set of challenges. Its
countless dialects, unfamiliar vowels, and nearly impenetrable
grammatical structures are enough to drive even the most
experienced linguist completely batty.”
With the Khaters’ support, Garris became more fluent, and
better equipped to understand the region’s political, cultural,
and intellectual complexities. “My knowledge of Arabic and my
understanding of Middle Eastern history have given me a way
to understand and interpret the world,” he said. “The Khaters
are two of NC State’s most gifted academics. Without their
mentorship and friendship I may never have opened my eyes to
the world around me.”
Evan Garris sent this email to his Arabic
teacher Jodi Khater this spring:
Ahlan wa sahlan! As you can imagine, I’ve been glued to the
news all day. Earlier, I caught a segment on CNN in which a
correspondent was amid the jubilant masses in Midan Tahrir.
She spoke Arabic fluently, and was interviewing Egyptians
and then translating their words for CNN’s English-speaking
audience. As for me, she could have eschewed the English
translation altogether, because I found myself understanding
every word spoken.
I want to thank you for helping me acquire the skills needed to
understand the thoughts and feelings of those interviewees in
their native tongue. It was an extremely touching moment for
me; like the barrier of the television screen had disappeared
and I was standing with everyone in Midan Tahrir. Hearing
the sheer joy, elation, and excitement in their voices — and
more importantly, their words — brought me to tears.
Language, its power, and my experience living in Cairo have
humanized these events for me. So much of what I have come
to know is either misrepresented or not represented in Western
media and by pundits and politicians. I feel that a critical
opportunity is lost in that absence of context, particularly the
chance to construct a narrative that puts a human face on
world events and emphasizes the incredible extent to which
civilizations are interpenetrated. That absence owes a large
part of its existence to the language barrier.
So again: thank you. I owe both you and Akram so much.
Best,
Evan
FOUND in
translation
photo provided by Evan Garris
Accolades > 23
photo by Roger Winstead
Imagine yourself on a Caribbean island, discovering old
treasures from a time long past. Sound like something out
of an adventure novel? For an industrious group of NC State
students, it was summer school, NC State-style: locally
responsive, globally engaged.
Each summer, students can participate in an archeological dig
headed by Scott Fitzpatrick, associate professor of anthropology.
Last year, they were on the island of Nevis, about 220 miles
southeast of Puerto Rico. This summer, Fitzpatrick will take
students to Carriacou, where he has conducted research for the
past eight years.
“As a land grant institution, NC State has the responsibility to
educate people who are based in North Carolina,” Fitzpatrick
said. “At the same time, we need to engage students globally
and help facilitate opportunities for them to participate in
international and cultural activities.”
At the Coconut Walk site in Nevis, the students had access to
lots of resources, including a highly sophisticated computerized
database that enables archaeologists to log and track the
thousands of artifacts they collect. They had some pretty high-tech
equipment at their disposal, too, from an infrared theodolite
that created a three-dimensional landscape in real time to a
ground-penetrating radar that enabled them to survey what lay
below the surface of the 1,000-year-old site.
“I want the students to learn more about the prehistoric inhabitants
of the island,” Fitzpatrick said. “Who are these people? How did
they live? I want them to come away with a holistic view of what
people were doing, and to feel a connection to them.”
The students rose early each day to begin work before the day’s
heat set in. “We met at the site at 6:30 am,” said Alyson Harding,
a sophomore in bioarcheology and chemistry. “We worked
straight through until lunch at noon. Then from three to six, we
had lab, when we examined and cleaned the artifacts we found.”
Harding said the team looked through midden layers — piles of
deposited trash — to find evidence of how the ancients lived. “We
were able to figure out the food they ate and the tools they used,”
she said. The group shipped much of the pottery sherds and stone
tools back to NC State’s archeology lab for processing.
Among their finds was a juvenile burial site, where they unearthed
a skeleton. The students believe the skeleton was male and may
have been burned as part of a ritual. The subject looked like it
had been moved from a previous burial site.
The students worked alongside fellow adventurers from near and
far, including a geoarcheologist from Ohio State and a pottery
expert from Cambridge University. And they got a taste of Nevis
culture. The island was celebrating its month-long Culturama
festival that included music, food, parades, drag racing and even
a beauty queen contest.
Fitzpatrick appreciates the university’s strong study abroad
program. “NC State supports faculty in developing programs
so that students can learn about different peoples and cultures,”
he said. “Students also get to hone skills that complement what
they’re learning on campus.”
Elizabeth Ayscue (2013, Arts Applications) contributed to
this article.
Students Dig
Archeology
on Caribbean Island
NC State student archeologists
assisted Scott Fitzpatrick on the
island of Nevis.
photos provided by Scott Fitzpatrick
24 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
What
We’re
Reading
Right now, no kidding, I am re-reading Moby-Dick, or the Whale,
by Herman Melville. I am teaching this book to my undergraduate
Major American Authors class, and enjoying the hell out of it. I first
read it in a class much like this one when I was a sophomore at the
University of Rochester. I did not like it. Later I read it again in a
graduate seminar at the University of Kansas, and I was amazed
at how much Melville had improved his writing in the intervening
four years. Forget about all the “great American novel” baloney,
this is a wild adventure story. It catches me up, makes me laugh (yes,
Melville is funny!), scares me, makes me wonder, makes me think.
“I have written a wicked book, and feel spotless as the lamb,” Her-man
told his friend Nate Hawthorne. How can I not like reading a
wicked book?
— John Kessel
Recently I received an advance copy of Glen Retief’s The Jack Bank:
A Memoir of a South African Childhood, coming out this Spring
from St. Martin’s Press. The author is one of my former students
and I remember him as affable and funny and able to make Hot-tentot
clicks, but, to be honest, I never would have guessed he car-ried
such startling memories. Or that he would become such a fine
writer, pulling up from his jack bank of memories his childhood in
the Kruger National Park, his Afrikaaner schoolmates whose uncles
were racist assassins, or, later, as a university student, his coming to
terms with being gay under Apartheid. The Jack Bank is filled with
great beauty, danger, and complex moral implication. The writing
is just exquisite.
— John Balaban
We asked our Creative Writing
faculty to share what they’re
reading. Now we invite you to
look over their shoulders and
take a peek at what they’re
reading when they’re not
writing, and why.
Accolades > 25
I’ve loved W.S. Merwin for a long time and am so happy he’s
coming to read at NC State in October. I was recently inspired
to write a poem for my mentor Philip Levine. “Mine Own Phil
Levine” is closely patterned after Merwin’s poem “Berryman.”
The title is taken from Levine’s essay titled “Mine Own John
Berryman” which in turn is based on the Thomas Wyatt poem,
“Mine Own John Poins,” so there’s a trajectory of tradition
there. One of my favorite poems by Merwin, from his newest
book, The Shadow of Sirius, is “Nocturn.” It begins: “The
stars emerge / one by one into the names / that were last found
for them / far back in other / darkness no one remembers / by
watchers whose own / names were forgotten ...” Our students,
faculty, and the local community are lucky to have the chance
to hear him read. And as a country, we're all lucky to have him
as our U.S. Poet Laureate.*
— Dorianne Laux
The recent death of Barry Hannah was a great loss to American
Literature and leaves a big hole in Southern fiction. He was a
brilliant writer with a wholly original voice and an unsurpassed
spirit and wit. Long, Last, Happy is a collection of stories from
his previous books with new unpublished work as well. It is a
celebration of the remarkable career of a true literary genius.
Philip Roth said Hannah was “wonderful in the ways Mark
Twain, William Faulkner, and Flannery O’Connor are wonder-ful
...” These stories are by turns wildly entertaining and also
deeply soulful and moving; and like the works of O’Connor
and Faulkner and Twain, reading them is the best lesson a fic-tion
writer can receive. To see what is possible in the hands of
such a master leaves the reader inspired and filled with awe
and admiration.
— Jill McCorkle
Before Dr. Kessel and I head off to the NC State Creative Writing
Workshop Abroad, held this summer in Edinburgh, I thought I
would read the great Scots modern fantasy Lanark, by Alasdair
Gray. I’d heard of this book for years — it is often compared to
Kafka and Joyce, with a dash of Lewis Carroll. To challenge
the reader, this epic novel is presented entirely out of order, leav-ing
you to cut and paste in your head. Gray (whom Anthony
Burgess declared the greatest Scots writer since Sir Walter Scott)
paints a purgatorial Scotland of lost souls, plagued by skin dis-orders
and numbing bureaucracies, wandering pointlessly amid
industrial wastelands where no one remembers having seen the
sun — Glasgow, in other words!
— Wilton Barnhardt
*Mark your calendar
for October 17, 2011,
when U.S. Poet
Laureate W.S. Merwin
will be the Creative
Writing Program’s
special guest
on campus.
College of Humanities & Social Sciences
Campus Box 7011
Raleigh, NC 27695-7011
NON PROFIT ORG
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
RALEIGH, NC
PERMIT No. 2353
B - E - E Proud
Remember how your knees knocked as you stood in front of your whole class, trying to spell “angst” or “erudite”?
Young logophiles (word lovers) recently gathered on campus for the first Wake County Spelling Bee in 13 years. The
marathon Bee lasted 4 ½ hours and 23 rounds. “The competition celebrates the power of words,” said Dr. Walt
Wolfram, university coordinator and William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of English.
“I think it is wonderful that we celebrate an academic sport,” he said. “These children have
trained as intensely as any other type of athlete for a competition.” Congratulations to the
last speller standing: Catherine Wagner, 13, number 16 pictured at left below, outlasted the
field of 78 fellow spellers with “talcum.” She is headed for the Scripps National Spelling
Bee in Washington, DC, in June.
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

> Distinguished Alum, Global Citizen > Strumming Up New Business > Soul of a Lion
Accolades For Alumni & Friends of CHAS
cab
cash
CHASS alum
masters the art
of asking trivia
questions
Accolades 2011 Edition
CHASS Board of Advisors
Emily Barbour, President
Barry Beith
Erica Boisvert
Steve Bullard
Lee Garrett
Ken Gray
Jim Johnson
David Jolley
Maria Kingery
Jennifer Martineau
Harold Pettigrew
Carol Rahmani
Brooks Raiford
Brad Remmey
Kathy Council (NC State Fdn. Board liaison)
Accolades is published by the NC State
University College of Humanities and
Social Sciences.
Jeffery P. Braden
Dean
Lauren Kirkpatrick, editor
Director of Communication
Contributing Writers
Elizabeth Ayscue
D’Lyn Ford
Christa Gala
Lauren Kirkpatrick
Lauren Lopez-Ibenez
Carrie McGaha
Matt Shipman
Lindsay Williams
NC State Communication Services
Design and Photography
On the cover: CHASS alum Greg Volk (Multi-disciplinary
Studies ’03) writes the questions for
the hit TV show, Cash Cab. And he’s won two
Emmys in the process. Ride the Cash Cab with
Greg on p.6.
NC State University is dedicated to equality of opportunity.
The University does not condone discrimination against students,
employees, or applicants in any form. NC State commits itself to
positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color,
creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability. In addition,
NC State welcomes all persons without regard to sexual orientation.
31,540 copies of this public document were printed at a cost of
46.2¢ per copy. 11-CHASS-2056
Work is getting worse
Is work less fun than it used to be? Signs point to yes. A new study
shows that modern business practices for professional employees
are raising stress levels, increasing our distrust of our bosses, and
making us all less inclined to help our co-workers out.
CHASS sociologist Martha Crowley worked with other research-ers
from Florida State University and The Ohio State University to
examine 80 years worth of workplace and employee data. They
found that many measures businesses have put in place to boost
productivity are also making workers more miserable. The prac-tices
range from layoffs and outsourcing jobs to putting people
onto teams that only work together on short-term projects.
Employers may be hurting themselves as well. A drop in employee
loyalty can make it harder to retain talented staff. Plus people are
less likely to put forth their best effort for a company they distrust.
For that matter, co-workers are less likely to help each other out
when they are primarily concerned with saving their own jobs —
and that hurts both workplace efficiency and the quality of the
work itself.
Send word!
We’d love to hear from you. Tell us about
your new job, your adventures, your life.
Visit us at chass.ncsu.edu
and take a look around.
Click on “alumni” to find
your class notes.
Accolades > 1
Doc continues to
be our hero
Doc Hendley (Communication ’04) earned national expo-sure
when he was named a CNN Top Ten Hero in 2009.
Since that brush with fame, Hendley has quietly and fer-vently
continued his mission to give what he says everybody
deserves: clean drinking water. “I’m just a regular guy,” he
said. “But a few years back when I was doing some reading,
I was completely horrified to learn that 1.1 billion people
don’t have access to clean water. I had to do something.”
Hendley started a nonprofit to provide clean water to
needy people around the world. In some areas, like Sudan,
Ethiopia, and India, he and his group help the locals build
wells. In Haiti, they’re helping residents build a sustainable
ceramic filter factory. Keep up with Doc at winetowater.org.
Tea Time: Several hundred students from India,
Turkey, China, the Arabian Peninsula, East Asia,
and other areas near and far bridged cultures over
tea in Caldwell Lounge during International Week.
NC State students from around the world prepared
and served tea and cookies in ways traditional to
their home country for the event, hosted by CHASS
and the Office of International Affairs.
A number of CHASS international studies students
also participated. International Studies is one
of the fastest-growing majors on campus. “Our
interdisciplinary model at NC State is one of the
program’s most appealing features,” said Helga
Braunbeck, director of CHASS Interdisciplinary
Studies Programs. “Students can investigate
international issues from a variety of angles —
historical, political, anthropological, or
environmental. They can also build their foreign
language skills and learn about foreign cultures
by studying their literary and cultural artifacts.
This generation likes to travel and explore other
cultures, so they welcome the built-in study abroad
requirement to experience first hand other ways of
life and perspectives on the world.”
Like us!
Follow CHASS at
facebook.com/NCStateCHASS
2 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
From Hillsborough Street to Hollywood, actor
Zach Galifianakis has captivated audiences
with his quirky comedic performances. In
a recent interview with www.ncsu.edu,
Galifianakis reflected on his time as a
Communication major. He shared memories
of time spent on Hillsborough Street, class with
his favorite professor — two-time Department
of Communication Outstanding Teacher Jim
Alchediak — and meeting his close friend and
collaborator A.D. Miles. Galifianakis left North
Carolina to pursue his dreams in New York City,
where he morphed from stand-up comedian
to box office sensation. While The Hangover
star enjoys a wildly successful career, he
still makes it a point to visit Raleigh each
year and walk across the campus where it all
began. Check out the article at go.ncsu.edu/
galifianakis .
It gets better
A documentary by Will Lamb (Comm ’11), featuring members
of the Wolfpack family rallying together in support of NC State’s
GLBT students, faculty, staff, and alumni, has drawn interna-tional
attention while helping to shed light on change and accep-tance
blossoming across campus. As of this writing, viewers have
watched the YouTube version of the video more than 11,000
times. See it for yourself: ncsu.edu/youtube/itgetsbetter.
Standing up to bullies
More than 300 social workers, educators, and others concerned
about bullying gathered for a symposium organized by the De-partment
of Social Work this spring. “We are determined to find
ways to protect young people against bullying,” said Tina Han-cock,
Social Work department head. “We’re looking at ways to
prevent bullying in the first place, how to intervene when it oc-curs
in schools, online, and elsewhere in our communities, and
how to enact anti-bullying legislation.” The department was
joined by the NC State GLBT Center in hosting the event, which
was co-sponsored by the Counseling Center and the Counselor
Education Program.
Accolades > 3
CHASS alums write the book
on Wolfpack hoops
Tim Peeler (English ‘87) and Roger Winstead (Communication
‘87) vividly illustrate the many traditions and innovations that
have shaped Wolfpack basketball as well as the history and cus-toms
of college basketball itself in their new book NC State Bas-ketball:
100 Years of Innovation (UNC Press, 2010). The writer
(Tim) and photographer (Roger) launched their careers and their
friendship working on Technician and the Agromeck back in the
day. Tim is now managing editor of GoPack.com, NC State’s
official athletics department website. Roger is a university pho-tographer.
Read their story at chassnews.blogspot.com.
We rate
NC State is sharing the rankings spotlight with schools like
Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Cornell, and Duke for its cam-pus
writing and speaking program. US News and World Report
has once again ranked the CHASS program among the nation’s
best colleges and universities with writing-across-the-curriculum
programs.
How to wreck a nice
beach … or, how to
recognize speech
Music historian Dave Tompkins (Poli Sci ’92) is author
of How to Wreck a Nice Beach, a history of the vocoder.
The L.A. Times calls the work — whose title derives from
the mis-hearing of the vocoderized phrase “how to recog-nize
speech” — “one of the best music books ever written.”
What’s a vocoder? A synthesizer that makes human voices
sound robotic. Vocoders were used in World War II as cryp-tography
devices. More recently, musicians ranging from
Peter Frampton to rapper T-Pain have used them to modify
their voices. Go to chassnews.blogspot.com to hear NPR
interview Tompkins about the vocoder, read excerpts from
an L.A. Times interview, and watch a vocoderized music
video: the 1983 hit “Pack Jam” that was the theme song
for the 1983 national championship Wolfpack men’s basket-ball
team. A version of this article originally appeared in the
NC State Alumni Association’s Red and White for Life blog.
Make a splash
Cullen Jones (English, ‘06) nearly drowned at a water park
when he was five. Fast forward 20 years: in 2008, Jones
brought home an Olympic gold medal and world record in
swimming — a first for an African-American. Today, Jones
is making waves through a national anti-drowning initia-tive.
Nearly 70 percent of African-American children and
58 percent of Hispanic children have little to no swimming
ability, compared to 40 percent of white children. Through
Make a Splash, Jones (pictured below) is encouraging chil-dren
across the country to learn to swim.
Author Tim Peeler and photographer
Roger Winstead
4 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
CHASS Dean Jeff
Braden believes the
humanities and social
sciences are not
merely relevant, they
are essential for our
individual, economic,
and collective survival.
Dear Friends,
STEM: It’s on everybody’s lips. Whether it’s President
Obama giving his State of the Union address, or Chancel-lor
Woodson, underscoring NC State’s historic identity and
strengths, everybody is talking about the importance of
STEM—Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathemat-ics—
for the nation, the world, and here in North Carolina.
So … is the College of Humanities and Social Sciences still
relevant, especially on a STEM-intensive campus? If you
have heard me speak since I became dean in 2009, or re-ceived
my email communications, you may have heard my
views on this. My answer is no—we are not relevant. We are
essential. Here’s why.
First, the disciplines in our college are relevant for any citizen
of the 21st century. Whether we study engineering, econom-ics,
environmental sciences, or entomology, being able to
speak clearly and write well, understand our place in history
and the world, know the narratives of our own people and
the language and narratives of others, appreciate our cul-ture
and those of others, and grasp the principles that shape
the actions of individuals and groups—all of these make us
more effective in our particular disciplines and endeavors.
Second, there is more to our college than simply helping
others do what they do better. As I think of the challenges
of the 21st century—health and well-being, climate change,
the clash of cultures and religions, sustainability—I do not
believe such problems will be solved exclusively (or even
primarily) through scientific discovery and technical inno-vation.
Rather, solutions to those challenges will require un-derstanding
and changing two things: the way people think,
and the way people act. That’s precisely what we do in our
college. Through the humanities, we explore and expand
people’s understandings of themselves and their relationship
to their physical, cultural, spiritual, and social worlds. The
social sciences help us explore and expand our understand-ing
of how we act within those contexts.
Therefore, we are not merely relevant to solving the grand
challenges of our world—scholarship and research in the
humanities and social sciences are essential to meeting those
challenges, and to sustaining life and civilization on the ra-zor-
thin biosphere of this planet we call home.
We all benefit from STEM, and want to ensure our cam-pus
and our country lead the world in scientific and techni-cal
innovation. But we must not overlook the importance
of speaking and writing; understanding the languages, cul-tures,
histories, and narratives of all peoples; the role of eth-ics
and religion; and the value of understanding and influ-encing
individual and social actions.
You know how important the humanities and social sciences
are to your life—so I ask you to share your perspective with
your neighbors, legislators, friends, and co-workers. In a
world that New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman
says is increasingly hot, flat, and crowded, the humanities
and social sciences are not merely relevant—they are essen-tial
for our individual, economic, and collective survival.
Help me share that message.
Sincerely,
Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Accolades > 5
Table of
contents
ALUMNI IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Riding the Cash Cab . 6
Destination in the Journey . 11
Distinguished Alumna, Global Citizen. . 14
Why I Give . 16
Paying it Forward . 17
STAND-OUT STUDENTS
Putting Education into Practice . 8
Charismatic Kornelius. . 10
Psych Major Strums Up a New Business . 12
Found in Translation . 22
FASCINATING FACULTY
Soul of a Lion . 19
Sharing the Sacred . 20
Sex? Not My Kid . 20
The More We Talk . 21
Hate Taking Surveys?. . 21
Students Dig Archeology. . 23
What We’re Reading . 24
Dean Jeff Braden wants to stay in touch with the student experi-ence.
So in addition to holding brown bag lunches with CHASS
students throughout the year, he instituted the annual Dean for
a Day contest. The college’s student ambassadors choose the
lucky student from among essays that contestants submit for
the honor. Then Braden takes the student’s schedule, and the
student takes his. For one day, they switch places.
Last year, Margaux Novak (English ’11) was dean for a day.
She gave Braden a detailed itinerary that included not only her
classes — water aerobics among them — but also stops for coffee
with friends, study in the library, and a walk past an inspiration-al
quote that appears on Yarborough Court (behind Holladay
and Watauga Halls). The quote read, ‘The greatest mistake you
can make in life is continually fearing that you’ll make one’ (El-bert
Hubbard). “That was when I realized this student had more
insight into this exercise than do I,” Braden recalled. “Margaux
realized there are risks any time you break with tradition. I take
heart that, although I make more than my share of mistakes,
at least I’m not afraid to try. And perhaps more importantly,
neither is Margaux.”
This year’s dean for a day was Sarah Hager (Comm ’12). After
attending all her classes, Braden took her radio shift at WKNC.
He had a blast. Meanwhile, Hager had back-to-back meetings
with other deans, faculty members, administrators, and donors.
When she met Braden at the end of the day to debrief, she says
they were both exhausted. “We simultaneously said, ‘I don’t
know how you do it!’” she said. “I think in the end that’s what
an opportunity like this comes down to — an appreciation for
both sides.”
Walking the
WALK
6 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
The camera zooms in on a busy New York City street. You see
someone — a harried tourist, a weary office worker, a group of
friends — flag down a cab and climb in. “Where are you going?”
the driver asks.
The passenger replies. Suddenly, lights within the cab start to flash
wildly, music starts playing, and general pandemonium ensues.
“You’re in the Cash Cab,” the driver says. “It’s a game show
that takes place right here in this taxi. Are you in?”
So begins each episode of the Discovery Channel’s hit tele-vision
game show, where unsuspecting passengers become
contestants who get peppered with questions ranging from
history to current events. Right answers earn them cash;
wrong answers get them dumped back onto the streets of
New York.
But who comes up with all those questions? CHASS alum
Greg Volk (Multidisciplinary Studies ’03) has not only made
a career as a question writer, he’s also won Emmys in the last
two seasons for his question-writing prowess on Cash Cab.
Education of a question writer
Volk came to NC State from Gastonia, NC, to become an engi-neer.
“I felt strongly about State. It’s a great school,” Volk said.
“Plus my brother graduated from State.”
But the more Volk dabbled in communication classes, and
the more he wrote for Technician, the stronger his passion
for writing and media became. He eventually melded his in-terests
in mass communication, journalism, and art media
into a major in Multidisciplinary Studies (now Interdisci-plinary
Studies).
When he was on the Technician staff, Volk wrote an editorial
about the value of an education steeped in the liberal arts.
“There’s a very real value to getting a humanities education
alongside so many technical and engineering students,” he
said. “In a way, CHASS helps NC State work as a whole.
Engineering students and the like benefit from being exposed
to the perspectives of CHASS students, and vice versa. They
need each other to make a complete education possible and
to make NC State work.”
Riding the
CASH CAB
Accolades > 7
Volk’s humanities classes stirred his interests in related fields.
He took a screenwriting class with English Professor Wil-ton
Barnhardt. “I’m not a screenwriter, but he inspired me,”
Volk said. “He told us to go for what we wanted. He had
an interesting career, and that was energizing for someone
trying to get their foot in the door.” Volk also values learn-ing
the fundamentals of media creation and journalism from
professors like Jim Alchediak (Communication) and Bob
Kochersberger (English).
Late show internship and a taste
of the Big Apple
Two semesters before Volk graduated, he moved to New
York City for a semester-long internship with The Late Show
with David Letterman. Working on the show opened Volk’s
eyes to the possibilities of television writing. “I had decided
that I really wanted to be a writer,” Volk said. “That intern-ship
allowed me to see how a TV show comes together.”
During his Late Show internship, Volk developed a love not
only for writing, but also for New York City. After he gradu-ated
from NC State in 2003, he made the permanent move to
the city that never sleeps. He started out writing monologue
jokes for Letterman on a freelance basis.
Volk spent four years writing jokes from his cramped apart-ment
before landing a job with VH1, where he wrote for sev-eral
shows, including Best Week Ever. But eventually, pop
culture writing began to lose its luster for Volk. It was time
for a change. One of his writer friends at Best Week Ever
had written for Cash Cab and encouraged Volk to give it a
try. “Going from writing jokes about celebrities to writing
trivia questions is not necessarily a linear path, but it was a
great switch for me,” Volk said.
Stump the contestant
For the past four seasons of Cash Cab, Volk has drawn on
much of the information he learned in college to formulate
questions and stump game show participants. “CHASS gave
me the knowledge base to build on, and it created in me a
curiosity to learn,” Volk said. “It’s important for my job that
I remain curious.”
Any event, person, or place can be shaped into a question
for Cash Cab, so Volk keeps a notebook by his side at all
times. “Even checking my e-mail gets me wondering,” Volk
said. “How long is the average e-mail? What percentage of
people has never sent an e-mail? Who is considered to have
sent the first e-mail? This is my life.”
Writing questions isn’t easy. Cash Cab trivia questions often
mesh humor with fact to create a fun, unique game show
viewers will stick with. Volk spends hours reading newspa-pers
and scouring the internet before he fashions seemingly
random topics into questions for the game show. Among the
myriad questions he’s written, one of Volk’s favorites is this:
Q: In its Polish translation, what classic novel’s title literally
means “Romper in the Grain”?
A: Catcher in the Rye.
Adding to the question-writer’s challenge, Volk has to fig-ure
out if the question he’s working on—or something simi-lar—
has already been written. More often than not, it has.
For instance, he remembers stumbling across the fact that
Michigan boasts the most lighthouses in the country; be-cause
of Lake Michigan, it has the most miles of shoreline.
“Sure enough, that question had already been written,” he
sighed. “So it was back to the drawing board.”
Writer’s block is not an option, since he is responsible for cre-ating
20 questions per day that will test contestants’ knowl-edge
and sometimes even make them chuckle. “It’s both the
most rewarding and most challenging thing I’ve ever done
in my life,” he says. “There are only so many ways to write
about Howard Taft being fat. You have to dig and dig and
dig, and that’s what makes it difficult.”
And although his questions often stump contestants, Volk
enjoys watching players get it right and win.
As for earning Emmy awards in 2009 and 2010 for his writ-ing,
Volk was caught completely unprepared. “It was really
surreal,” he said. “I never imagined myself winning an Emmy.
It was a dream I never realized I had until it came true.”
In addition to writing for Cash Cab, Volk is exploring his
newfound interest in history as a writer for cable’s top-rated
unscripted show, the History Channel’s Pawn Stars. Like
many reality shows, Pawn Stars features unique characters
and eyebrow-raising antics, but Volk brings the show full
circle with information pop-ups that describe the pawned
items’ rich and complex history.
Advice for aspiring TV writers
For students looking to move to New York or Los Angeles
to write television dramas or movie scripts, Volk has this
advice: write every chance you get. “Start doing what you
want to get paid for now, and write like you’re going to get
paid for it,” Volk said. “You’re going to be judged on your
work, and it’s going to be critiqued. Sometimes you will fail
and get rejected, but you have to put yourself out there and
continuously improve yourself.”
And if your travels take you to New York, stay sharp. You
never know if the next taxi you get in will be the Cash Cab,
fueled by a CHASS alum’s questions.
by Carrie McGaha, student intern
8 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
Running for public office is not for
the faint of heart of any age.
But what if you’re 21 years old, and a full-time, double-major,
Dean’s-list student? Meet NC State junior and newly
elected Wake County Soil and Water Conservation District
Supervisor Jenna Wadsworth.
Not only did Wadsworth—a Political Science/Women’s
and Gender Studies double major—run for public office
this past fall, she was the top vote-getter in a three-way
race for the Wake County Soil and Water Conservation
Board. Wadsworth was selected on 41.19% (112,231) of
all ballots cast.
Wadsworth is the youngest elected official currently serving
in North Carolina and — as far as she’s been able to deter-mine
— she’s the youngest woman ever elected in North Caro-lina.
In the months since the election, Wadsworth has been
juggling a full course load with her official responsibilities.
“I am so proud to serve the good folks of Wake County,”
she said. “I want to do my part to clean up Falls Lake and
Wake County’s other water sources, and to support ways to
conserve these natural resources.”
Although she’s three times younger than some of her fellow
board members, Wadsworth is holding her own as a soil
and water conservation supervisor. She is both idealistic
and practical about what she has gotten into.
“Being in college and being a public servant — neither is an
easy task,” she said. “But I’m used to a rigorous academic
environment, and I have been active in politics since before
I could vote. You make time for what’s important to you.”
Putting Education
into Practice
Accolades > 9
Wadsworth said the state’s budget crisis is providing even
more challenges. “It’s hard for anyone to do what we had
hoped to do,” she said. “With cuts to many of the state’s
agricultural programs, and to the soil and water conserva-tion
districts, we all have to find innovative ways to get the
job done.”
One example of Wadsworth’s innovative spirit: She’s devel-oping
an internship program to engage university students
with interests in water and soil conservation in the conser-vation
board’s work. “I see it as a great chance for students
to get hands-on experience while helping the board work
more efficiently. It’s what we do at NC State.”
Wadsworth is focusing her board efforts largely on preserv-ing
family farms, like the one she grew up on. She wants to
see locally-grown products infused into the local economy
as a way of sustaining jobs within the county. She’s also
intent on raising public awareness of the board���s role as a
resource to both public and private landowners.
As a student at NC State, Wadsworth has been active with
various environmental groups and has participated in
grassroots efforts to lobby for bills addressing local envi-ronmental
issues. “Young people have a lot to offer,” she
said. “We have different ways of thinking, we bring a dif-ferent
perspective, we are passionate and have a lot of en-ergy
to affect change.”
Wadsworth credits CHASS with helping to prepare her to
take on the rigor of campaigning and the challenges of serv-ing
the public. “I value learning so highly,” she said. “In
CHASS, we are encouraged to learn and to explore diverse
viewpoints, not just to absorb material. My professors have
been great about helping me relate what I’m studying to
real-world contexts.”
Wadsworth created an independent study in women and
gender studies last year through which she organized her
nonpartisan campaign. “So few women run for public of-fice,”
she said. ��It wasn’t just my age that could have caused
some to dismiss my candidacy.
“[NC State professor of philosophy] Chris Pierce was so
helpful and encouraging. All my professors have been,
throughout this process.”
In addition, CHASS has helped sharpen her communica-tion
skills. “It’s essential for those in public office to be ef-fective
communicators, writers, and speakers,” Wadsworth
said. “You need to be able to relate to people to understand
their needs. CHASS is great for helping people communi-cate.”
When we last spoke to Wadsworth, she was preparing for
several area meetings with fellow supervisors from Wake
to Nash County to discuss how to help farmers meet
newly-strengthened requirements to reduce nitrogen and
phosphorus levels in the watershed. She was dreaming up
a lawn care clinic for homeowners’ associations. She was
also reading five novels, preparing for three mid-term ex-ams,
and writing two papers.
Just another day in the life of a locally responsive, globally
engaged NC State student.
“I want to do my part
to clean up Falls Lake
and Wake County’s
other water sources,
and to support ways
to conserve these
natural resources.”
10 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
Perhaps it was the echo of his laughter off the walls of the Caldwell
Lounge, but when undergrad Kornelius Bascombe arrived for our
interview, people noticed.
Known as “Korn” among friends and family, Bascombe’s enthu-siasm
and charisma guided him through the loss of his family’s
home to a fire in 2006, scored him an all-expenses-paid week in
Hollywood, and are paving the way for a promising future.
Bascombe is in high spirits throughout our discussion of his
recent venture into the world of reality-TV. Last spring, pro-ducer
Mark Burnett teamed with the Oprah Winfrey Network
(OWN) to launch a national video campaign, asking, “What
would you do with your own show?” Bascombe used his audi-tion
tape to articulate the three-fold principle on which his reality
series — geared toward keeping middle and high school youth out
of trouble — would operate: Embrace, Enhance, and Empower.
America, whether charmed by his smile or inspired by his mes-sage,
responded with an astonishing wave of support; more than
80,000 profile views and 5.9 million votes later, Bascombe found
himself on a red-eye flight to Los Angeles as one of the 35 “Your
OWN Show” finalists preparing for an intensive week of filming
and interviews. But despite his status as an early fan favorite, Bas-combe
got a plane ticket home instead of a new contract.
Maintaining his signature positive attitude and humility, Bascombe
explained his elimination from the competition. “I was the youngest
finalist of the entire group — the producers were looking for some-one
with more life experience who could really cater to Oprah’s
audience. But, it’s been a blessing … a complete dream come true!”
Bascombe hopes to pursue his true passion: communication. With
the two online domain names he’s secured for himself, Bascombe
is ready to create a media outlet focused on inspiring youth: some-thing
“fun and comedic, but real.”
While Bascombe has been a source of strength and guidance for
his friends and community, he insists he could not have made it
without help. Arguably the most influential figure in his life is NC
State alum Haze Lancaster (Bus. Mgt., ’94). “I’ve known him
since I was eight,” Bascombe said. “He encouraged me to come
to State. He’s helped me all the way. I have so much gratitude and
admiration for him.”
by Lindsay Williams, student intern
Charismatic
Kornelius
Accolades > 11
Road trip!
For many of us, the phrase conjures a party on wheels. For
Amber Smith (Multidisciplinary Studies ‘09), it meant a nearly
three-month odyssey across America with a spirit of volunteer-ism
as her co-pilot.
Smith took a semester off from her undergraduate studies in the
fall of 2004 to travel from Raleigh to Seattle and back again. At
every stop, she volunteered. Sometimes she engaged in simple
acts of kindness such as holding “smile” signs in busy market-places.
In Lincoln, Nebraska, she started a litter pick-up along
the highway, encouraging others to pull over and help. And
in Boise, Idaho, she served lunch at a homeless shelter with a
chapter from Kiwanis International.
“I wanted to be inspired,” Smith said. “I wanted to see the
good things individuals and nonprofits were doing around the
country, and to meet others who wanted to make a difference
but maybe weren’t sure how.”
Back in Raleigh, energized by all that she had seen and experi-enced,
Smith began a different journey: She created a nonprofit
organization to promote volunteerism in Wake County. Six
years later, ME3— or Motivate, Educate, Empower, and En-gage
— connects volunteers with organizations that need their
willing hands, their expertise, their passion and involvement.
“We have a registry of more than 400 volunteers who we have
connected to 75 nonprofits,” she said proudly. And those num-bers
continue to grow. “People want to help. They want to be
involved. We’re just helping them find their way.”
ME3 has put two Wake County high schools on the map for
volunteerism. At East Wake and Broughton high schools, Smith
has helped create an elective for students who want to volunteer
and to design ideas to solve community issues. “It’s exciting to
work with these students,” Smith said. “They understand that
you have to create a culture of volunteerism. They’re working
hard to integrate volunteering into their lives, and to encourage
their classmates to do the same.”
In addition to serving as president of ME3, Smith is pursuing her
second CHASS degree, a Master’s of Public Administration. “I
studied nonprofits as a minor when I was an undergrad,” she
said. “I could connect what I was learning in the classroom
with what I was trying to do in the world. It was helpful to
learn the language of nonprofits, and the theories behind what
makes a nonprofit succeed, and to put those theories into prac-tice
at the same time.” In her MPA program, Smith said she’s
continuing to learn “all the intricate details of nonprofits.”
When she graduates this fall with her MPA, Smith is unsure
where the winding road will take her. She is sure she will re-main
connected to NC State and to the community around it.
And she knows, wherever she goes, she will continue to sow the
seeds of volunteerism.
by Lauren Lopez-Ibanez, student intern
Alum finds destination
in the journey
Citizen Smith
The Independent Weekly has awarded Amber Smith its
Citizens’ Award, given since 1983 “to honor people and
groups who work tirelessly to make the Triangle — and
beyond — more than just a community.” Smith was among
four awardees for 2010. “I had no idea I would be recog-nized,”
Smith said. “I was extremely flattered. There’s so
much that needs changing. Sometimes you wonder if you
will ever accomplish anything. Being recognized made me
feel like maybe I am making a difference, no matter how
small.”
12 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
Italo Leiva was struggling to learn sheet music for guitars when
suddenly a light bulb went off. A light with seven colors. And
made of string.
Leiva color-coded his guitar strings to improve his skills. He says
it’s all about synesthesia — a condition he studied in cognitive
psychology that affects many musicians and mathematicians.
“Psychologists have found that when you use color distinction in
learning, you can produce deeper memory integration,” he said.
“I thought if I used colors on the guitar strings, it might be easier
and quicker to learn how to read sheet music.”
It worked! The psych major not only gained new musical mas-tery,
but also launched Leiva Strings, a business that won its
founder an NC State competition for entrepreneurs, propelled
him into a global business start-up competition, and landed him
a spot in an intensive three-month business accelerator program
in Boston, complete with office space, legal support, mentoring,
and targeted introductions to customers and funding sources.
The long and winding road to Boston started at NC State when
Leiva and his friend and fellow student Ahmad Abdel-Ghani
(an Agricultural Business Management major) entered their
business idea in the university’s eGames competition. “The
competition cultivates and encourages the spirit of entrepre-neurship
across all colleges and disciplines at NC State,” said
Psych Major
Strums
Up A New
Business
Accolades > 13
Autumn Mauney, associate director of external relations for
the Entrepreneurship Initiative. “Competitors develop an un-derstanding
of what it really takes to develop an idea and turn
it into a business.”
Leiva Strings won the $3,000 Apollo Award for best business
plan and an additional $500 for tying for the most points in
the competition. “People come up with great ideas every day,
but you have to be prepared and able to execute the idea to be
successful,” Mauney said. “What really struck me about Italo
was his passion and dedication for his product.”
With encouragement from Mauney and others in the Entre-preneurship
Initiative, Leiva submitted his invention and busi-ness
plan to MassChallenge, a global start-up competition
and accelerator designed to “help entrepreneurs transform
great ideas into great companies.” This year, the competition
attracted 446 applications from 26 countries.
Leiva Strings was one of 111 start-ups invited to partici-pate
in the competition and accelerator program. Although
Leiva Strings did not win the MassChallenge, Leiva says he
wouldn’t trade the three-month experience for anything. “It
was exhausting and exhilarating,” said Leiva, who took a hia-tus
from school during the competition. “In three months, I
did what most businesses would do in three years. It was a
real crash course in building a business, getting investments,
and networking. We were judged on just how much we could
get accomplished during a very short time.”
Leiva got advice and services from CEOs of Fortune 500 com-panies,
business moguls worth millions of dollars, and sea-soned
lawyers. He built a business team — comprised largely
of NC State alumni and students — that helped him investigate
business sales, potential clients, and ways to gain publicity.
He prizes the network he developed with fellow competi-tors.
“We were on a hall with entrepreneurs from around the
world,” Leiva said. “We developed connections to help our
businesses grow. We all had broad perspectives and bounced
ideas off each other.”
What’s next for Leiva Strings? For now, Leiva is working on
branding his business. He’s also negotiating with overseas
manufacturers to develop prototypes for various types of gui-tars,
since they vary by brand. He’s building the company’s
website to include a video lesson section where instructors
will teach guitar, bass, upright bass, and violin. For Italo Lei-va,
it all sounds like sweet music.
by Carrie McGaha, student intern
“ I thought if I used
colors on the
guitar strings,
it might be easier
and quicker to
learn how to read
sheet music.”
How does it work?
Leiva Strings are designed with a different
color for each of the seven natural notes
in music theory: A,B,C,D,E,F, and G. Users
associate each note with the correlating
color while they learn to read sheet
music. Music instruction books are being
developed that will match colored sheet
music to the colored notes on the strings.
14 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
It was a night course about the
Soviet Union that convinced Susan
Carter to apply to NC State and
major in political science.
Just back from the Coast Guard Academy, she was trying to
figure out her future. She decided it would begin at NC State.
“It was the best decision I ever made,” said Carter, who gradu-ated
in 1981 and was recently recognized as the 2010 CHASS
Distinguished Alumna.
After graduating from NC State, Carter went on to earn her
master’s degree in Middle East Studies, International Econom-ics
and Arabic from The John Hopkins School of Advanced
International Studies. Following graduation, she worked as a
journalist in the Persian Gulf and in 1990 joined ExxonMobil,
where she now serves as the senior director of federal relations.
“I’ve always been interested in U.S. foreign policy,” said
Carter. “We lived in Australia when I was six and sev-en.
My parents had friends from other countries that
Global
Citizen
Since she was a
young girl, Susan
Carter thought
globally. Today,
she’s trying to
ensure other
students do too.
Distinguished
Alum,
Accolades > 15
they met through the U.S. military. When I was eight years
old, my father went to Vietnam. I was always conscious that
U.S. foreign policy and events that happened outside the United
States had a profound impact at home.”
Today she’s supporting CHASS students learning the very same
thing — both by serving on the college’s School of Public and
International Affairs (SPIA) advisory board and through the
creation of the Susan Carter Scholarship. Her donations are
tripled by ExxonMobil.
“One of State’s great strengths is that it attracts students from
around the world,” said Carter. “My interest in the Middle
East began with the many prominent Palestinian students I met
here. They showed me the other side of the Arab-Israeli conflict
and awakened an interest in the region that ultimately led to
my Fulbright in Syria, my three years in Bahrain, and to being
hired by ExxonMobil.”
Currently, Carter manages contacts and advocacy with the
executive branch regarding energy and business issues, as well
as guiding ExxonMobil on Canadian relations. But one of her
favorite responsibilities has been to advocate for human rights
and health in other countries.
“I helped manage our worldwide strategic community invest-ment
programs. We created an initiative to build leadership
skills and economic opportunity for women in developing
countries,” Carter explained. “Why would we invest in women
in developing countries? Because investment in women yields
incredible dividends for entire communities and countries. We
live and work in these countries and their economic and social
progress affect us too. ExxonMobil has touched and changed
a lot of women’s lives through this initiative, and the program
continues to grow and flourish.”
At NC State’s distinguished alumni awards dinner in January,
Carter reflected on how she became a global citizen. “I had
many inspirational professors and advisors, but none more so
than Joe Mastro.” Mastro was the instructor of that evening
course about the Soviet Union — the one that convinced Carter
that NC State was where she needed to be.
Carter also credits her parents: Bob and Katie Carter. “They
have enthusiastically supported me at every step through my
life. But just as important, they participated in my experiences
here at NC State. As a result, my parents and I have been able
to grow together throughout our lives.”
Carter hopes the scholarship in her name and the guidance she
gives to SPIA and the Women’s Foreign Policy Group will give
current students encouragement and support similar to what
she received during her days at State.
“I had a lot of mentors and supporters along the way who
helped me in many different ways,” Carter said. “I in turn want
to help the next generation.”
by Christa Gala
We asked; she answered
Q. You’ve worked in parts of the world most
Americans only read about. What’s the biggest
misconception we have about the Middle East?
A. That every country is the same and every person
thinks the same way. It is a diverse region; its people
hold all types of views.
Q. You were a journalist in the Persian Gulf before you
joined ExxonMobil’s public affairs department. What
was that like?
A. It was a grand adventure. I lived in Bahrain, a very
comfortable, open country to live in at the time. I
had the great fortune to travel to several countries
in my work—Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab
Emirates, Yemen—and to spend a week aboard U.S.
naval vessels that were escorting oil tankers in and
out of the Arabian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war. My
time in the Gulf and my year in Syria just prior to that
were incredible growth periods. Living in another
culture really stretches you, spiritually, mentally,
and professionally.
Q. You’ve been with ExxonMobil in some capacity
since 1990. How has the industry changed in
20 years?
A. Technology developments have enabled us to find
and produce oil and gas economically and with a
smaller environmental footprint in new frontiers. In
far east Russia, ExxonMobil just drilled the world’s
longest extended-reach well. The well pad is on land;
we drill down and out 7.67 miles underneath the
seafloor to the oil field. That lets us produce oil and
gas in an environmentally responsible way, without
interacting with the marine environment in one of
the most challenging sub-arctic environments in the
world. It’s pretty amazing technology, and it’s one of
many examples.
Q. Can you tell us something most people won’t know
about how we get our oil?
A. One fun fact: Most people in the U.S. think that
most of their imported oil comes from the Middle East.
Actually, it comes from Canada.
16 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
Laura Lunsford (BS ’88, PhD ’07, Psy)
is assistant professor of Psychology
at University of Arizona South. She
is the former director of NC State’s
Park Scholarships program. Luns-ford
has created an endowment to
support graduate students in the
Department of Psychology. Lauren
Kirkpatrick, CHASS director of com-munication,
recently spoke with her
about why she gives.
You came to NC State as an engineering major. What changed?
I loved math. I majored in Electrical Engineering my first two
years. But one day in the lab it dawned on me that I was more
interested in solving problems with people than with things. I
took some human resource development classes in Psychology
and loved them. Jim Kalat, Lynne Baker-Ward, Don Mershon,
Craig Brookins were all terrific.
You returned to campus ten years later to become the first
full-time director of the Park scholarships program. In ad-dition
to building it into one of the nation’s premier merit
scholarship programs, you decided to earn your doctorate in
Psychology. Why?
I was asking a lot of questions about the value of mentor-ing
and about the value of programs that support talented
students. The faculty I kept seeking out told me I was asking
doctoral student-type questions. With Denis Gray’s help and
support, I decided I could do my job and pursue my doctorate.
What is your area of scholarship?
I study mentoring, talent development, and emerging leader-ship
for adolescents and young adults. I am also interested in
LAURA LUNSFORD: Why I Give
Laura Lunsford, PhD, returns
to campus to visit with
her mentor, Denis Gray.
Accolades > 17
Christina LaCanfora was so grateful for the scholarship
support she received from the Department of Communication
that she’s replenished the fund twice.
“It feels fantastic to know that you are making it a little easier
for a student to finish a degree by reducing the stress of
money,” said LaCanfora, 25, a 2007 graduate with a double
major in communication and sociology.
LaCanfora was awarded the $1,000 Nancy and Melinda Snow
Scholarship during the 2006-2007 school year. For the past
two years, LaCanfora has donated to the scholarship, with her
employer, ExxonMobil, matching her donation three to one.
“I just felt that I was so fortunate to have gotten a good job,”
said LaCanfora, an upstream communications advisor for the
company in Houston, TX. “I remember how much it meant for
me to get financial support when I was in school. I want to
help other people.
“Receiving a merit-based scholarship is a great feeling.
It acknowledges and rewards all the effort you’ve
spent studying, writing papers, and being involved with
extracurricular activities. It is amazing that someone who has
never met you is so impressed by your dedication to your
studies and contributions to your school that they are willing to
provide you with financial assistance to help achieve your goal.”
The Nancy and Melinda Snow Scholarship was a surprise
to Nancy Hill Snow, a popular communication professor at
NC State from 1966 – 2006. It is also named in memory
of Melinda Snow — the daughter of Nancy and A.C.
Snow — who died in an automobile accident in 1996.
“When I was getting ready to retire, my students had this brilliant
idea that they would start a scholarship, but of course they didn’t
have any money,” said Nancy Snow, whose husband, A.C. is a
well-known columnist for the Raleigh News & Observer. “So
they called my husband, and he worked it out that they could get
a scholarship started. I did not know anything about it until the
day of my retirement; that’s when it was announced.”
Snow is thrilled with LaCanfora’s donation — and ExxonMobil’s
match. “I hope the fact that Christina has done this is going
to make other people want to do it,” Snow said. “I’ve always
thought that instead of paying someone back you should just pay
it forward to benefit another person.”
by Christa Gala
educational access and equity for under-served popula-tions.
I am involved in a University of Arizona mentoring
program now, looking at how the relationship benefits
not only the students but also the faculty.
You dedicated your dissertation about mentoring to Dr.
Denis Gray, and created a graduate student endowment
in his honor. Why?
Denis was my mentor in every sense of the word: He would
tell me when I needed to buck up. He helped me think
through my practicum experience. He always encouraged
me to be a faculty person. He saw me in ways I did not see
myself.
Why do you choose to give back to CHASS?
When I was in the PhD program, I received a graduate
scholarship from the Psychology Department. It was
not huge, but it increased my ability to participate fully. I
was so grateful for that support. Attending conferences is
important, but it’s hard when you’re a student and your
budget is tight. I wanted to give back to other graduate
students because of Denis Gray.
PAYING IT FORWARD
Christina LaCanfora(‘07) met with
her benefactor Nancy Snow at the
CHASS scholarship luncheon.
18 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
I have the best job in CHASS — raising private dollars to enhance the student experi-ence
and ensure our research is ever more valuable to North Carolina and beyond.
Don’t laugh! I spend my days connecting our alumni and friends to the College’s vi-brant
community of students and faculty. What could be more rewarding than that?
What amazing alumni I meet every day. Brad Crone (Political Science ’85) runs his
own PR firm serving corporate and political clients. Maria Kingery (English ’99) co-founded
a sustainable energy company. John Dail (History ’73) founded a business
that helps companies meet their employee benefit challenges.
Recently, John had the opportunity to visit Dr. Thomas Parker’s archeology lab on
campus where they discussed ancient Israel, one of John’s passions. Other friends of
CHASS have let me know how much they’ve enjoyed reading about English Profes-sor
Robin Dodsworth’s research about Southern dialects in the press and how much
they have appreciated hearing Professor Akram Khater’s perspectives on public radio
regarding the political unrest in Egypt, Yemen, and Tunisia.
And then there are the students. Wow! Timur Ender (Criminology ’11) is biking
across the country to raise awareness about affordable housing. Park Scholar Vin-nie
Feucht (English ‘11) won the highly competitive Innovation Institute Scholarship
from ThinkImpact for his work on sustainability. Casey Huntington (Political Sci-ence/
Psychology/Philosophy ’11) is a pre-law triple major who left New Orleans as a
refugee from Hurricane Katrina. Casey is also the recipient of two merit scholarships.
Whether you’re interested in technology and the elderly or passionate about poetry, I would love to reconnect you with the Col-lege.
You will find, no doubt, that the campus is alive with intellectual energy and the joy of inquiry. I invite you to invest in our
future and thank you for your support.
From the Development Office
Marcy Engler
You can change the future. And while you’re at it, leave a legacy.
How? Create an endowment in CHASS.
An endowment is created when a permanent fund is
established, invested, and managed. We use a portion of the
annual income the fund generates to carry out the donor’s
designated purpose. If the fund earns more income than the
amount we spend, we add that extra income back into the
endowment so that it continues to grow and maintain its
purchasing power for future generations.
Endowments help us recruit outstanding students and support
internships and study abroad opportunities for them. Graduate
students benefit from endowments that support their research.
The college can attract outstanding faculty with endowed
chairs, and can support the scholarship of our current faculty
stars by providing teaching and research support.
An endowment creates financial stability, allowing us
to become less dependent on unpredictable sources of
revenue, such as research sponsorship, or state and national
government aid.
Endowments can be funded using cash, securities, or land.
Some donors fund endowments as a single gift or as part of a
will bequest. Others spread the payments over several years
in the form of a pledge. Endowed funds can become family
traditions, with succeeding generations adding gifts to the
principal established by a founding donor.
For more information on how you can
leave a legacy, contact Marcy Engler
at marcy_engler@ncsu.edu or 919.515.5984.
Leave a Legacy
Accolades > 19
Associate Professor of English Barbara Bennett never imagined
that she’d fall asleep to the sound of roaring lions. Or that she���d
master the art of diapering a baby baboon. Or land a book deal
with National Geographic. But a stint volunteering at a wildlife
refuge in Namibia proved a turning point that set the literature
professor on a path of personal and professional discovery.
From TV to reality
An animal lover since childhood, Bennett grew up watching
Wild Kingdom, The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau,
and National Geographic specials on TV. She’s the kind of
woman who talks to squirrels, names the deer in her backyard,
and brings doggie treats to a friend’s dinner party instead of a
bottle of wine.
When she had a chance to take a sabbatical three years ago,
Bennett opted to volunteer at the Harnas Wildlife Refuge.
While cleaning enclosures, tending injured animals, and walk-ing
young lions, Bennett became close to founder Marieta van
der Marwe, who shares an extraordinary connection with
animals. Starting with a single vervet monkey, van der Marwe
now provides a home for 400 injured and orphaned animals.
Bennett wanted to share van der Marwe’s story and help sup-port
her work. Past encounters with publicity seekers had made
the founder wary, but Bennett’s enthusiasm won her over. Now
the only problem was convincing a publisher.
Book deal
The answer came during Bennett’s next visit to Harnas, when
one of the guests, a writer for The Guardian, provided an
introduction to her agent, who agreed to represent Bennett.
“I learned more about writing than at any other time in my
life,” Bennett says. “It was a new kind of writing. I had to
learn to ask the right questions to elicit stories and select the
best ones from a wealth of material.”
She was elated when her agent called to break the news: Na-tional
Geographic wanted to publish her book, The Soul of
a Lion.
In and out of Africa
Bennett headed back to Namibia for her fifth trip recently, this
time to promote the book with tour operators, businesses, and
booksellers. With half the proceeds going back to Harnas, it’s
another way to support the sanctuary.
And she made sure to schedule some quality time with her fa-vorite
wildlife species. “I’ve found that nothing comes closer to
meditation for me than sitting silently with a cheetah.”
by D’Lyn Ford
SOUL OF A Lion photo provided by Barbara Bennett
20 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
Here’s just a sampling of the
research and scholarship coming
out of the College of Humanities
and Social Sciences.
Sharing the sacred
Relations between people of different religions in India have
often been strained at best, and at worst, have erupted in vio-lence.
In her recent book, Sharing the Sacred, (Oxford Uni-versity
Press 2010), Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Anna Bigelow explores a Punjab town where the conditions
for religious conflict are present, but where residents live
largely without conflict. In Malkerkotla — a predominantly
Muslim area — Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs have managed to
live together in peace, with minimal intervention from outsid-ers.
And it���s been that way since it was founded by a Sufi saint
in the 15th century. How has this community created and sus-tained
its culture of tolerance and mutual respect? Bigelow’s
research uncovers a story of peace in a region of conflict, and
serves as a counterbalance to the many portrayals of Islamic
cultures as militant and intolerant.
Sex? Not my kid!
Seems that most parents of teenagers believe that: a) their teen
does not (repeat, not) want to have sex; and, b) every other teen
definitely wants to have sex. The parents of teenage girls and
boys alike fear that their children will be taken advantage of
by other teens. But they are not, apparently, comfortable with
the idea that their child may be actively trying to have sex with
someone else. Sociologist Sinikka Elliott’s research indicates
that even as they imagine adolescents in general as highly sexual
and even sexually predatory, parents do not think of their own
teenagers as sexually desiring subjects. “This sort of binary
thinking — constructing their teen children as asexual but other
teens as hypersexual — represents more than simply an effort
to maintain a notion of their teens as sexually innocent,” Elliott
said. “It reveals deep anxieties about their teenagers’ future life
chances and underscores the prominent role sexuality plays
in reproducing social inequality.” Elliott explores this cultural
landscape in her forthcoming book, Not My Kid: Parents and
Teen Sexuality (NYU Press). Her findings on the subject have
appeared on MSNBC, ABC News, and other media outlets.
research sampler
photo provided by Anna Bigelow
Accolades > 21
The more we talk, the less we see
eye to eye
“We can work it out,” the Beatles song goes. Maybe not,
according to research by the Department of Communica-tion’s
Andy Binder. Discussing the risks and benefits associ-ated
with emerging science and technology can actually hurt
efforts to build consensus on those issues. “The more people
discuss the pros and cons associated with scientific endeav-ors,
the more entrenched they become in their point of view
— and the less likely they are to see the merit of other view-points,”
Binder said. “This suggests that individuals are very
selective in choosing their discussion partners and hearing
only what they want to hear during discussions of contro-versial
issues.”
Binder’s research highlights the difficulty facing state and
federal policy leaders when it comes to high-profile science
and technology issues such as stem cell research or global
warming. “Government agencies view research on these
issues as vital and necessary for the country’s future, but
building public consensus for that research is becoming
increasingly difficult.” The research was part of a project
funded by the National Science Foundation aimed at under-standing
public opinion and policy dynamics surrounding
site selections for federal research facilities such as the Na-tional
Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility. “This work will likely
inform how federal agencies engage the public in regard to
large-scale research initiatives,” Binder said. His paper ap-pears
in Risk Analysis.
Laughing in court
Serving on a jury during a capital murder trial is no laughing
matter. So why might we hear giggles and guffaws coming
out of the jury room? Professor of Communication Joann
Keyton has been on the case.
Keyton and Dr. Stephenson Beck from North Dakota State
studied an Ohio trial involving two murder charges and
multiple drug counts. They found that laughter played a se-rious
role in how jurors developed relationships and found
support for their points of view. “Laughter is natural, but we
try to suppress it in formal settings,” Keyton said. “So when
it happens, it’s worth closer examination.”
Keyton and Beck examined how laughter helped the jurors
bond and develop the power structure of the group, and
how it helped them release tension. “When juries form, the
members don’t know each other,” Keyton said. “Part of the
jury process is to create relationships within the group — for
example, figuring out who thinks like me, who will have the
same position I have. There are power dynamics at play.”
As an example, during deliberations, jurors became confused
about whether a sentence for one of the charges was for 30
days or 30 years, leading to laughter. “Laughter allowed the
jurors to acknowledge they had made an error — so they
could move forward with that error corrected,” Keyton said.
The researchers’ findings are included in a special issue of
Small Group Dynamics. US News & World Report picked
up this story.
Hate taking surveys?
Would you rather scrub the floor with a toothbrush than
take a survey? Your repugnance might be in your genes.
Associate Professor of Psychology Lori Foster Thompson has
been investigating why some of us are so strongly disinclined
to reply to surveys. Thompson and her colleagues sent
surveys to more than 1,000 sets of twins — some of whom
were fraternal, some identical. They examined whether the
behavior of one twin predicted the other’s behavior. Between
identical twins, it did. With fraternal twins, however, one’s
behavior did not accurately predict the other’s behavior. By
studying twins, the researchers were able to account for age
and upbringing (since all the twin sets in the study were
raised in the same home). The only variable was genetic:
identical twins share identical DNA, fraternal twins do not.
If you’re one of the survey-averse among us, next time you’re
asked to take one, you can simply respond by checking (d)
Sorry, it’s just not in my genes. The research was published
in the Journal of Organizational Behavior.
22 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
Evan Garris was overcome with emotion as he watched the
television reports of the jubilant crowds celebrating Hosni
Mubarak’s resignation in Cairo’s Tahrir Square earlier this
spring. The Smithfield, NC, native and political science major
had spent last summer travelling in the Middle East, dividing
his time between Egypt, the UAE, and Lebanon, as he studied
with Jodi Khater (Foreign Languages and Literatures) and her
husband Dr. Akram Khater (History).
“During my study abroad, I experienced a critical awakening, or
nahda, as it is called in Arabic,” Garris recalled. “I wanted to
know if comparing lofty ideals like human rights and normative
behaviors like gender and sexuality could even occur between
cultures; if interpretation of these concepts is not impeded
altogether by language or the lack thereof.”
While he was full of questions, Garris was also focused on
learning the language. “It was my most pressing need,” he said.
“It determined my ability to move about freely, establish personal
connections with people, and even eat. Even after three years of
study, the Arabic language poses a unique set of challenges. Its
countless dialects, unfamiliar vowels, and nearly impenetrable
grammatical structures are enough to drive even the most
experienced linguist completely batty.”
With the Khaters’ support, Garris became more fluent, and
better equipped to understand the region’s political, cultural,
and intellectual complexities. “My knowledge of Arabic and my
understanding of Middle Eastern history have given me a way
to understand and interpret the world,” he said. “The Khaters
are two of NC State’s most gifted academics. Without their
mentorship and friendship I may never have opened my eyes to
the world around me.”
Evan Garris sent this email to his Arabic
teacher Jodi Khater this spring:
Ahlan wa sahlan! As you can imagine, I’ve been glued to the
news all day. Earlier, I caught a segment on CNN in which a
correspondent was amid the jubilant masses in Midan Tahrir.
She spoke Arabic fluently, and was interviewing Egyptians
and then translating their words for CNN’s English-speaking
audience. As for me, she could have eschewed the English
translation altogether, because I found myself understanding
every word spoken.
I want to thank you for helping me acquire the skills needed to
understand the thoughts and feelings of those interviewees in
their native tongue. It was an extremely touching moment for
me; like the barrier of the television screen had disappeared
and I was standing with everyone in Midan Tahrir. Hearing
the sheer joy, elation, and excitement in their voices — and
more importantly, their words — brought me to tears.
Language, its power, and my experience living in Cairo have
humanized these events for me. So much of what I have come
to know is either misrepresented or not represented in Western
media and by pundits and politicians. I feel that a critical
opportunity is lost in that absence of context, particularly the
chance to construct a narrative that puts a human face on
world events and emphasizes the incredible extent to which
civilizations are interpenetrated. That absence owes a large
part of its existence to the language barrier.
So again: thank you. I owe both you and Akram so much.
Best,
Evan
FOUND in
translation
photo provided by Evan Garris
Accolades > 23
photo by Roger Winstead
Imagine yourself on a Caribbean island, discovering old
treasures from a time long past. Sound like something out
of an adventure novel? For an industrious group of NC State
students, it was summer school, NC State-style: locally
responsive, globally engaged.
Each summer, students can participate in an archeological dig
headed by Scott Fitzpatrick, associate professor of anthropology.
Last year, they were on the island of Nevis, about 220 miles
southeast of Puerto Rico. This summer, Fitzpatrick will take
students to Carriacou, where he has conducted research for the
past eight years.
“As a land grant institution, NC State has the responsibility to
educate people who are based in North Carolina,” Fitzpatrick
said. “At the same time, we need to engage students globally
and help facilitate opportunities for them to participate in
international and cultural activities.”
At the Coconut Walk site in Nevis, the students had access to
lots of resources, including a highly sophisticated computerized
database that enables archaeologists to log and track the
thousands of artifacts they collect. They had some pretty high-tech
equipment at their disposal, too, from an infrared theodolite
that created a three-dimensional landscape in real time to a
ground-penetrating radar that enabled them to survey what lay
below the surface of the 1,000-year-old site.
“I want the students to learn more about the prehistoric inhabitants
of the island,” Fitzpatrick said. “Who are these people? How did
they live? I want them to come away with a holistic view of what
people were doing, and to feel a connection to them.”
The students rose early each day to begin work before the day’s
heat set in. “We met at the site at 6:30 am,” said Alyson Harding,
a sophomore in bioarcheology and chemistry. “We worked
straight through until lunch at noon. Then from three to six, we
had lab, when we examined and cleaned the artifacts we found.”
Harding said the team looked through midden layers — piles of
deposited trash — to find evidence of how the ancients lived. “We
were able to figure out the food they ate and the tools they used,”
she said. The group shipped much of the pottery sherds and stone
tools back to NC State’s archeology lab for processing.
Among their finds was a juvenile burial site, where they unearthed
a skeleton. The students believe the skeleton was male and may
have been burned as part of a ritual. The subject looked like it
had been moved from a previous burial site.
The students worked alongside fellow adventurers from near and
far, including a geoarcheologist from Ohio State and a pottery
expert from Cambridge University. And they got a taste of Nevis
culture. The island was celebrating its month-long Culturama
festival that included music, food, parades, drag racing and even
a beauty queen contest.
Fitzpatrick appreciates the university’s strong study abroad
program. “NC State supports faculty in developing programs
so that students can learn about different peoples and cultures,”
he said. “Students also get to hone skills that complement what
they’re learning on campus.”
Elizabeth Ayscue (2013, Arts Applications) contributed to
this article.
Students Dig
Archeology
on Caribbean Island
NC State student archeologists
assisted Scott Fitzpatrick on the
island of Nevis.
photos provided by Scott Fitzpatrick
24 > www.chass.ncsu.edu
What
We’re
Reading
Right now, no kidding, I am re-reading Moby-Dick, or the Whale,
by Herman Melville. I am teaching this book to my undergraduate
Major American Authors class, and enjoying the hell out of it. I first
read it in a class much like this one when I was a sophomore at the
University of Rochester. I did not like it. Later I read it again in a
graduate seminar at the University of Kansas, and I was amazed
at how much Melville had improved his writing in the intervening
four years. Forget about all the “great American novel” baloney,
this is a wild adventure story. It catches me up, makes me laugh (yes,
Melville is funny!), scares me, makes me wonder, makes me think.
“I have written a wicked book, and feel spotless as the lamb,” Her-man
told his friend Nate Hawthorne. How can I not like reading a
wicked book?
— John Kessel
Recently I received an advance copy of Glen Retief’s The Jack Bank:
A Memoir of a South African Childhood, coming out this Spring
from St. Martin’s Press. The author is one of my former students
and I remember him as affable and funny and able to make Hot-tentot
clicks, but, to be honest, I never would have guessed he car-ried
such startling memories. Or that he would become such a fine
writer, pulling up from his jack bank of memories his childhood in
the Kruger National Park, his Afrikaaner schoolmates whose uncles
were racist assassins, or, later, as a university student, his coming to
terms with being gay under Apartheid. The Jack Bank is filled with
great beauty, danger, and complex moral implication. The writing
is just exquisite.
— John Balaban
We asked our Creative Writing
faculty to share what they’re
reading. Now we invite you to
look over their shoulders and
take a peek at what they’re
reading when they’re not
writing, and why.
Accolades > 25
I’ve loved W.S. Merwin for a long time and am so happy he’s
coming to read at NC State in October. I was recently inspired
to write a poem for my mentor Philip Levine. “Mine Own Phil
Levine” is closely patterned after Merwin’s poem “Berryman.”
The title is taken from Levine’s essay titled “Mine Own John
Berryman” which in turn is based on the Thomas Wyatt poem,
“Mine Own John Poins,” so there’s a trajectory of tradition
there. One of my favorite poems by Merwin, from his newest
book, The Shadow of Sirius, is “Nocturn.” It begins: “The
stars emerge / one by one into the names / that were last found
for them / far back in other / darkness no one remembers / by
watchers whose own / names were forgotten ...” Our students,
faculty, and the local community are lucky to have the chance
to hear him read. And as a country, we're all lucky to have him
as our U.S. Poet Laureate.*
— Dorianne Laux
The recent death of Barry Hannah was a great loss to American
Literature and leaves a big hole in Southern fiction. He was a
brilliant writer with a wholly original voice and an unsurpassed
spirit and wit. Long, Last, Happy is a collection of stories from
his previous books with new unpublished work as well. It is a
celebration of the remarkable career of a true literary genius.
Philip Roth said Hannah was “wonderful in the ways Mark
Twain, William Faulkner, and Flannery O’Connor are wonder-ful
...” These stories are by turns wildly entertaining and also
deeply soulful and moving; and like the works of O’Connor
and Faulkner and Twain, reading them is the best lesson a fic-tion
writer can receive. To see what is possible in the hands of
such a master leaves the reader inspired and filled with awe
and admiration.
— Jill McCorkle
Before Dr. Kessel and I head off to the NC State Creative Writing
Workshop Abroad, held this summer in Edinburgh, I thought I
would read the great Scots modern fantasy Lanark, by Alasdair
Gray. I’d heard of this book for years — it is often compared to
Kafka and Joyce, with a dash of Lewis Carroll. To challenge
the reader, this epic novel is presented entirely out of order, leav-ing
you to cut and paste in your head. Gray (whom Anthony
Burgess declared the greatest Scots writer since Sir Walter Scott)
paints a purgatorial Scotland of lost souls, plagued by skin dis-orders
and numbing bureaucracies, wandering pointlessly amid
industrial wastelands where no one remembers having seen the
sun — Glasgow, in other words!
— Wilton Barnhardt
*Mark your calendar
for October 17, 2011,
when U.S. Poet
Laureate W.S. Merwin
will be the Creative
Writing Program’s
special guest
on campus.
College of Humanities & Social Sciences
Campus Box 7011
Raleigh, NC 27695-7011
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B - E - E Proud
Remember how your knees knocked as you stood in front of your whole class, trying to spell “angst” or “erudite”?
Young logophiles (word lovers) recently gathered on campus for the first Wake County Spelling Bee in 13 years. The
marathon Bee lasted 4 ½ hours and 23 rounds. “The competition celebrates the power of words,” said Dr. Walt
Wolfram, university coordinator and William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of English.
“I think it is wonderful that we celebrate an academic sport,” he said. “These children have
trained as intensely as any other type of athlete for a competition.” Congratulations to the
last speller standing: Catherine Wagner, 13, number 16 pictured at left below, outlasted the
field of 78 fellow spellers with “talcum.” She is headed for the Scripps National Spelling
Bee in Washington, DC, in June.
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